The U.S. Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have announced that Amazon will pay a $25 million fine to settle alleged violations of children’s privacy laws related to its Alexa voice assistant service. The charges were filed in May 2023 by the FTC and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) after Amazon failed to comply with parents’ requests to delete their children’s voice recordings and geolocation information.
This violation includes the FTC Act, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), and the COPPA Rule.
Amazon has been offering Alexa voice-activated products and services targeted at children under 13 since May 2018. The FTC and DOJ accused the company of retaining children’s voice recordings and geolocation data despite parents’ requests for deletion, violating COPPA guidelines.
Alongside the $25 million fine for Alexa-related privacy violations, Amazon also faces a separate $5 million fine for privacy breaches associated with its Ring video doorbell service. This fine results from alleged unlawful surveillance by employees at Amazon’s Ring home security camera subsidiary and failure to prevent hackers from taking control of users’ cameras.
Amazon responded to the complaints, expressing disagreement with the FTC’s claims concerning Alexa and Ring while denying any violation of the law. The company stated that the settlements resolved the issues and led to modifications in its practices, including the removal of inactive child profiles after 18 months, unless parents or guardians choose otherwise.
This fine is part of the FTC’s ongoing efforts to protect children’s privacy in the digital age. Earlier, the FTC imposed a significant $245 million fine on Epic Games for breaching children’s privacy laws, and Microsoft also recently agreed to pay a $20 million fine for similar violations involving its Xbox Live service.
