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A Massachusetts woman is suing Amazon on behalf of her 10-year-old daughter and is seeking class action status to sue on behalf of children in eight states.
As reported by the Seattle Times, the lawsuit was filed in federal court in Seattle on Tuesday. She claims that Amazon illegally records children with her vocal assistant Alexa, in addition to illegally keeping track of these recordings to contribute to "a massive database of billions of voice recordings containing the details deprived of millions of Americans ". she bought an Alexa Echo Dot in August 2018 and had no reason to believe that her child would be registered.
The lawsuit claims that children can not agree to be registered and do not understand the "potentially invasive uses of massive data by a company the size of Amazon". They use "Alexa without understanding or warning that Amazon saves and prints the voice. their."
Although most child privacy complaints make reference to the 1996 Privacy and Protection of Privacy Act (COPPA), the latter invokes state law, stating that the states of consent of both parties for "the recording of oral communications".
Apple's Siri Voice Assistant is called as a contrast because Apple deletes the records after the tasks that are useful to them have been performed.
"It does not take much imagination to worry that Amazon is developing voice prints for millions of kids, which could allow the company (and possibly governments) to track the numbers." A child's use of Alexa-compatible devices in multiple locations and to associate them with a vast The level of detail of the child's life, ranging from personal questions asked to Alexa to the products that are available to them. they used at home, "says the lawsuit.
If the standby word is recognized, the Alexa device records the communication and, unlike some other smart devices, transmits the record to Amazon's servers for interpretation and processing before receiving the corresponding data in response.
Asked to comment, an Amazon spokesperson wrote to Vox by email: "Amazon has a long-standing commitment to maintaining the trust of our customers and we have implemented strict measures and protocols to protect their security and privacy, "said a company blog. post on FreeTime parental controls on Alexa.
"Customers configure their Echo devices and we provide them easy-to-use tools to manage them, including the ability to view and delete voice recordings associated with their account," the statement said.
In May, however, the Campaign for a Child without Advertising (CCFC) and the Center for Digital Democracy (CDD), supported by 17 other organizations for the protection of privacy and children's rights, argued the opposite in a complaint 96 pages to the Federal Trade Commission. .
The complaint concerned Amazon's Echo Dot Kids device and accused Amazon of violating COPPA by collecting data on children under the age of 13 without the explicit consent of their parents. (While the Echo Dot Kids have a system for parental consent, the CCFC and the CDD claim that a child could easily get around it and that children who have just come home for a play date could also most importantly, it included the results of a study according to which voice recordings are retained forever by default – instead of, as provided for in COPPA, only to the extent necessary to carry out to the relevant tasks – and can not be deleted without calling Amazon Customer Service.
"Amazon is offering Echo Dot Kids as a way to educate and entertain children, but the real goal is to collect a treasure trove of confidential data that it refuses to give up even when parents ask for it," the director wrote. Executive Director, Josh Golin. . "The FTC must hold Amazon responsible for the flagrant violation of the law on the protection of children's privacy and their endangerment."
Whether through the courts or a regulatory body, Amazon will likely begin to answer questions in more detail soon.
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