Amazon will pay $30.8M to settle two FTC cases involving privacy violations of its smart devices. In one case, the FTC found that Amazon's Ring gave employees and contractors unrestricted access to customers' sensitive video data, allowing them to view, download, and transfer it without proper privacy and security measures. Amazon will pay $5.8M in customer refunds for privacy violations related to its smart doorbell camera unit Ring. - The settlement orders Ring to delete unlawfully viewed data, disclose the extent of data access to customers, and restrict the use of specific geolocation and voice information.
- Separately, Amazon agreed to pay a $25M civil penalty to resolve allegations that it unlawfully retained children's voice and location data recorded by Alexa for an extended period, violating child privacy laws.
- As part of that FTC agreement, Amazon is ordered to purge inactive child accounts, improve its data deletion practices and privacy measures, and delete specific data collected by Alexa.
The settlements with Amazon's Ring and Alexa divisions mark the FTC's first actions against the tech giant under Chair Lina Khan. - While Amazon denies any wrongdoing, the company has agreed to implement certain privacy and other changes.
- In both cases, the proposed orders against Amazon require approval from federal judges following unanimous votes by FTC commissioners.
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