Amazon Echo Dot Allegedly Violates Kids’ Privacy

Amazon has been hit with a class action lawsuit by parents who claim that company collects and uses their children’s personal information without consent in violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

The plaintiffs state that Amazon’s Echo Dot kids edition is designed for kids to play music, tell stories, answer questions, tell jokes, and more.  In addition, the Echo Dot is allegedly designed to record, store, and recite back information that the child asks it to remember.

The Amazon Echo Dot class action lawsuit alleges that, “In all, Amazon collects at least four types of personal information about children through the Echo Dot Kids Edition: 1) voice recordings, 2) persistent identifiers associated with the child, 3) other information about a child associated with the persistent identifier, and 4) personal information offered by the child for the device to ‘remember.’”

According to the plaintiffs, Amazon’s “Parental Consent” online tool only generally describes that they offer “some” services that are planned for children and that in “some” instances, Amazon knows that a child is utilizing a service.  In addition, the class action complaint states that sometimes children “may” share personal information and that Amazon “may” collect it.

In addition, the plaintiffs say that Amazon has a privacy notice, “geared more toward online shopping than assisting parents in understanding privacy rights as they pertain to the audio recordings and other personal information of their children.”

The plaintiffs allege that the Amazon “Parent Consent” notice is only shown during the set up process and not before the engagement of a skill.  Thus, the parents claim that they are being asked to provide consent before knowing what skills the children will be using the future.

In addition, the disclosure that Amazon publishes related to the information it collects does not report whether it “enables a child to make information publicly available.”

The Amazon Echo Dot class action lawsuit also claims that if children are visiting another child who owns the Echo Dot Kids Edition, Amazon does not get consent or provide notice to the child’s parents.  

Also, the plaintiffs allege that Amazon has told them that parents can delete all of the recordings of their child’s voice at a website.  However, the plaintiffs claim that, “Amazon cannot transfer its legal obligations to parents – particularly through its vague and confusing purported Children’s Privacy Disclosure.”

The Amazon Echo Dot class action lawsuit states that COPPA, which was enacted in 1999, was designed to protect the privacy of children when the are on the Internet. 

“Under COPPA, developers of child focused apps, devices, or voice controlled interactive intelligent speakers, cannot lawfully obtain the personal information of children under 13 years of age without first obtaining verifiable consent from their parents,” the class action lawsuit states.

The Amazon Echo Dot Class action lawsuit alleges violation of Federal Wiretap Act, Intrusion Upon Seclusion, and violation of numerous state consumer fraud and deceptive practices acts.

National Class Members include: “All children under the age of 13 residing in the United States who used Alexa on the Amazon Echo Dot Kids Edition.”

The plaintiffs in the Amazon Echo Dot class action are represented by Matthew J. Ide of Ide Law Office, Gary E. Mason of Whitefield Bryson & Mason, LLP, and Gary M. Klinger of Kozonis & Klinger, Ltd.

The Amazon Echo Dot Class Class Action Lawsuit is Adamsky, et al. v. Amazon.com Inc., et al. Case No. 2:19-cv-01214 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.

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