Amazon Could Process Alexa Audio Interactions Locally, Be More Like Apple, Suit Says
Amazon’s Alexa digital assistant “routinely records and voiceprints millions of children without their consent or the consent of their parents,” alleged a class action complaint (in Pacer) in U.S. District Court in Seattle Tuesday. It said the practice violates laws…
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in Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Washington that prohibit recording oral communications without the consent of all parties to the communication. Representing Massachusetts 10-year-old plaintiff C.O. through her guardian, Alison Hall-O’Neil, the suit seeks redress for all minors in those states who have used Alexa in their home. Echo and Echo Dot users expect that a digital query is sent over the internet for processing, that a digital response is returned and that the device then converts the response into Alexa’s voice, it said: Users don’t expect that “Alexa is creating and storing a permanent recording of their voice.” The lawsuit alleges Amazon could process audio interactions locally on an Echo device “and send only a digital query, rather than a voice recording,” to Amazon servers, saying it wouldn't be as cost effective “or commercially advantageous” to the company. Apple records communications in a similar manner to Alexa with its Siri voice assistant, but it stores the recordings in an “identifiable form” for only a short period of time, “and then deletes the recordings entirely,” said the complaint. Amazon didn’t comment Wednesday. It referred us to a blog post outlining the company’s approach to privacy and safety.