Amazon Alexa class action alleging privacy violations moves forward

Amazon Alexa class action lawsuit overview:

• Who: United States District Judge Robert Lasnik granted class certification to some plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit against Amazon.
• Why: The suit alleges Amazon Alexa devices recorded and stored conversations without users’ knowledge or consent.
• Where: The Amazon Alexa class action lawsuit was filed in Washington federal court.

A Washington federal judge has granted class certification to plaintiffs with registered Amazon Alexa devices in a class action lawsuit alleging the devices recorded and stored their conversations.

United States District Judge Robert Lasnik denied class certification to plaintiffs who did not have registered devices, however, finding that their claims involve too much individual inquiry, according to a Law360 report.

Amazon’s argument that some registrants may not have been recorded or had their conversations reviewed was not enough to block certification for the registrant classes, Lasnik ruled.

The Amazon Alexa class action lawsuit is seeking injunctive relief and damages under Washington’s Consumer Protection Act.

Alexa may have recorded conversations illegally, class action asserts

Lasnik found that determining whether the Alexa device owners gave express or implied consent is intensely fact-based and would require individualized analysis.

He also determined that individual evidence would be needed to determine whether those who did not have registered devices had a reasonable expectation of privacy around an Alexa device based on their individual knowledge.

The plaintiffs first filed the Amazon Alexa privacy class action lawsuit in June 2021 arguing that Amazon collected, stored and shared voice recordings captured by Alexa devices from users who had not used an activation word to “wake” the device.

Lasnik trimmed wiretapping claims from plaintiffs who had registered their devices in May 2022, while allowing users who had not registered their devices to proceed, Law360 reports.

Amazon moved to have the Alexa class action lawsuit dismissed in November 2022, arguing that discovery had shown it never exploited any of the recordings, nor were the recordings ever subject to human review.

The judge determined that class certification is not defeated by the invocation of individualized issues with “mere speculation,” and that Amazon’s arguments address limited facets of the allegedly unfair and deceptive conduct.

Amazon Alexa faced more than one lawsuit in June of 2021 accusing it of recording conversations, while another accused Alexa of illegally collecting biometric identifiers, including voiceprints and transcriptions.

Have you eveer registered an Amazon Alexa device? Let us know in the comments.

The plaintiffs are represented by Bradley S. Keller of Byrnes Keller Cromwell LLP, Michael P. Canty, Carol C. Villegas, Guillaume Buell, David Saldamando, Danielle Izzo and Gloria J. Medina of Labaton Keller Sucharow LLP; and Paul J. Geller, Stuart A. Davidson, Mark J. Dearman, Nicolle Brito and Alexander C. Cohen of Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP.

The Amazon Alexa class action lawsuit is Kaeli Garner, et al. v. Amazon.com Inc., et al., Case No. 2:21-cv-00750, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.

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