Amazon Hit With Kids Echo Privacy Class Action Lawsuit

Early this month, Amazon was hit with two proposed class action lawsuits in California and Washington regarding the company’s Echo smart speaker for kids.

About the Amazon Kids Echo Privacy Class Action Lawsuit

According to the class action lawsuits, these devices violate state privacy laws in several ways, including recording children without parental consent, and storing children’s personal data for longer than is necessary.

Plaintiffs C.O. and R.A. claim in their lawsuits that Amazon has built a database containing the personal information of millions of children, and that the company is using this sensitive data for profit. Additionally, the plaintiffs claim that Amazon does not warn or notify unregistered users of these devices that they are recording and saving their interactions with the device. When children use the device, the plaintiffs claim, neither the children nor their parents are required to give consent to be recorded and permanently stored.

In addition to the claims alleged by the lawsuits, privacy experts and consumer advocates also claim that the device keeps recordings of children for much longer than necessary, makes it very difficult for parents to manually delete recordings.

Background on the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act

An administrative complaint filed with the Federal Trade Commission
argues that Amazon is in violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.

The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act is law meant to protect the privacy of children using the internet and internet-connected devices. COPPA requires that online services marketed for children must obtain parental consent before collecting data from children. It also prohibits the retention of personal information of children for longer than necessary, and requires companies to allow parents to delete any personal information that has already been acquired. According to the Amazon Kids Echo privacy class action lawsuit, Amazon has violated the COPPA in a variety of ways.

What is the Amazon Echo Kids Edition?

Amazon’s Echo is a smart speaker that interprets human questions and scans a connected internet database for answers. Following the release of the Echo in November 2014, Amazon has sold close to 50 million Echo devices and possesses more than 40 percent of the global market for smart speakers. The Echo Kids Edition was released in early 2018. Almost immediately, privacy experts released a statement regarding the Echo Kids Edition and urging parents not to buy it.

Echo smart speakers contain microphones that are constantly passively listening for their activation phrases. For the Echo and Echo Kids Edition, the activating word or “wake word” is “Alexa.”

However, the device always needs to be listening in order to be ready to answer when it is asked a question. Once a child says the wake word, the device begins to record their question. These recordings are stored indefinitely, until a parent deletes them. Additionally, research shows that small children don’t simply ask the device questions. Many children talk to the devices as if they are a friend. These one sided conversations are then also recorded and stored indefinitely. Even if these recordings are manually deleted by a parent, transcripts of the recordings may still exist following deletion.

Parents of children whose privacy has been violated by the Amazon Echo Kids Edition may be able to join or file a class action lawsuit and pursue compensation and accountability from Amazon.

The Kids Echo Privacy Class Action Lawsuits are Case No: 2:19-cv-00910, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, and Case No: 19STCV20205, in the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles.

Join an Amazon Echo Dot Kids Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you own an Amazon Echo Dot Kids Edition and it is used by a child under 13 years of age, you may qualify to join this Amazon Kids Echo privacy class action lawsuit investigation.

Learn More