FTC charges Amazon with privacy violations over Alexa and Ring cameras

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Ernie Field presses the doorbell of his Ring camera at his Wolcott home on July 16, 2019. The Federal Trade Commission voted on May 31, 2023 to fine Amazon more than $30 Million for privacy violations with its voice assistant Alexa, and Ring's doorbell camera.

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FILE – Amazon Echo Plus and Echo devices are positioned behind illuminated Echo Button units during a company event in Seattle on September 27, 2017. The Federal Trade Commission voted on May 31, 2023 to fine Amazon more than $30 Million for privacy violations with its voice assistant Alexa, and Ring, its doorbell camera.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) - Amazon has agreed to pay $30 million in settlement of privacy claims involving Alexa its voice assistant and Ring its doorbell camera.

The Federal Trade Commission has voted in favor of filing charges against the company in two separate cases. This could force it to delete data collected from its popular internet-connected products.

Amazon did not immediately respond to an inquiry for comment.

The FTC stated that Amazon deceived Alexa users for years. The agency stated that Amazon retained recordings of children indefinitely, unless the parent asked for the information to be deleted. Even when Amazon deleted the recordings, it often kept the transcripts.

The FTC ordered that the company delete all inactive accounts for children, as well as certain voice and geolocation information.

The agency fined Amazon $25 million for violating the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. FTC Consumer Protection chief Samuel Levine also accused Amazon of sacrificing privacy to make money by 'flouting parental deletion requests'.

Alvaro Bedoya, FTC commissioner, said that Amazon retained kids' data for as long as it took to improve its voice recognition algorithm. In a separate press release, he said that the Alexa ruling sent a message out to all tech firms who were'sprinting' to do the similar amid fierce competition to develop AI datasets.

Bedoya tweeted that the sound of his child's voice is the most visceral thing for a parent.

In the Ring case the FTC accused Amazon's subsidiary for home security cameras of allowing employees and contractors access to private videos of customers and implementing lax security measures that allowed hackers to gain control of certain accounts.

Amazon acquired California-based Ring, Inc. in 2018. Many of the violations cited as evidence by the FTC date back to before the acquisition. Ring would have to pay $5.8 millions in order to comply with the FTC's orders. This money would go towards refunds for consumers.

Federal judges must approve the proposed order.

The FTC commissioners unanimously decided to bring charges against Amazon for both cases. The proposed order, in addition to the Alexa fine, prohibits Amazon to use deleted voice and geolocation information to create any data products. Amazon is also required to develop a privacy program in relation to its use of geolocation data.