Alexa Secretly Listening, Recording Personal Info, Claims Amazon Class Action Lawsuit

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Unbeknownst to users, more than 200 million Alexa devices may be secretly recording and storing their personal information, according to a class action lawsuit lodged against Amazon Tuesday.  

Lead plaintiff, David Terpening, filed the complaint in California federal court seeking to represent Alexa users nationwide. Terpening claims that he and other consumers are unknowingly submitting personal information to Amazon when they use their Alexa devices, including their use, location, and even outside conversations.  

Terpening says that he purchased an Alexa in 2016. He says he was not aware that the device was recording and permanently storing his and others’ conversations and personal information.  

Alexa is a wildly popular personal assistant device, with more than 200 million sold since it was introduced by Amazon in 2015, says the class action lawsuit. Different versions of Alexa are offered, including the “Echo,” “Echo Dot,” “Echo Plus,” “Echo Sub,” “Echo Show,” “Echo Input,” “Echo Flex,” and “Echo Dot Kids.” The devices all contain a microphone-equipped speaker that allows users to interact with the device, including inputting commands and asking questions. In addition, Alexa can be integrated into other Amazon and non-Amazon products.  

Terpening alleges that he and other users relied on Amazon’s representations that Alexa would only listen and respond to their commands, including a “wake word” that triggers the device; however, hundreds of millions of Alexa devices are allegedly permanently recording storing user information, including outside conversations with others.  

“Amazon…has millions, of recorded interactions between users and its Alexa Devices,” contends the class action lawsuit. Terpening points out that, while some information collected by Alexa may be mundane, for example, if the user asks the device for a weather report, other statements may be highly personal, such as questions about medical conditions.  

Further, “because Alexa Devices are trained to start recording when the device believes it heard a ‘wake word,’ user conversations may be recorded when the Alexa Device misinterprets the user’s speech and incorrectly identifies a ‘wake word’ that was not said,” notes the class action lawsuit. “Thus, Alexa Devices may be recording conversations regardless of whether the user intended to interact with Alexa at all.” 

The class action lawsuit contends that thousands of words that bear “little familiarity” to “wake words” can trigger Alexa to record.  

In addition, Amazon allegedly employs human and artificial intelligence analysts to interpret and evaluate the tens of millions of conversations and other information recorded by Alexa across the country. Terpening says that Amazon uses this information for its own business purposes to create profiles of users’ that contain deeply personal information that is integrated with shopping history and other data obtained by the tech giant.  

The class action lawsuit seeks to represent a nationwide Class of consumers who purchase or downloaded Alexa over the past four years. Terpening accuses Amazon of violating privacy and consumer protection laws and wants a court order stopping the collection of data by Alexa. In addition, the class action lawsuit is seeking to assess damages on behalf of Class Members against Amazon.  

This is not the first time Amazon has been accused of using Alexa to collect secret recordings of users. In 2019, a woman filed a class action lawsuit seeking to represent Californians who were potentially recorded by an Alexa in the home, business, or otherwise in while the presence of the device without their knowledge or consent.  

Are you concerned that Alexa may be secretly recording you? Tell us about your experience in the comment section below! 

The lead plaintiff is represented by Caleb Marker, Jason P. Johnston, Brian C. Gudmundson, and Michael J. Laird of Zimmerman Reed, LLP. 

The Alexa Recording Class Action Lawsuit is Terpening v. Amazon.com, Inc., Case No. 5:21-cv-03739 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.  

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