Tech Report: Amazon will pay millions over privacy violations
Amazon will pay $25 million to settle allegations that it violated children’s privacy rights with its Alexa Voice Assistant. The company agreed to pay the FTC after it was accused of failing to delete Alexa recordings at the request of parents. It was found that Amazon kept hold of sensitive data for years. Their doorbell camera unit, Ring, will also have to pay out for violating customers’ privacy. Ring gave its employees unrestricted access to videos of customers’ private homes.
Amazon sent out a response to these allegations, saying:
“At Amazon, we take our responsibilities to our customers and their families very seriously. Our devices and services are built to protect customers’ privacy, and to provide customers with control over their experience. While we disagree with the FTC’s claims regarding both Alexa and Ring, and deny violating the law, these settlements put these matters behind us.
“We built Alexa with strong privacy protections and customer controls, designed Amazon Kids to comply with COPPA, and collaborated with the FTC before expanding Amazon Kids to include Alexa. As part of the settlement, we agreed to make a small modification to our already strong practices, and will remove child profiles that have been inactive for more than 18 months unless a parent or guardian chooses to keep them.
“Ring promptly addressed the issues at hand on its own years ago, well before the FTC began its inquiry. Our focus has been and remains on delivering products and features our customers love, while upholding our commitment to protect their privacy and security.”
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