Here is what parents need to know about protecting their children’s privacy when it comes to using voice assistants.
By Heather Kelly and Caroline O’Donovan
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/06/02/amazon-alexa-kids-privacy/
In the nearly ten years since Amazon launched its Alexa voice assistant, children have learned to embrace the always-on technology. They shout commands to Siri, Alexa and Google Assistant without thinking twice, asking it to play music, tell them stories or make silly jokes.
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The tech’s popularity has grown despite privacy concerns and lawsuits. In May, the company said it had already sold more than half a billion Alexa devices.
This week, the Federal Trade Commission settled a lawsuit against Amazon over the company’s alleged failure to delete recordings of children when it should have. Regulators said Amazon would pay $25 million for violating federal child privacy laws.
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Federal regulators fine Amazon $25 million over child privacy issues
Federal regulators on Wednesday announced Amazon would pay $25 million to settle allegations that its voice assistant Alexa violated a federal law protecting children’s privacy — a sign of Washington’s mounting scrutiny of the e-commerce giant’s sprawling businesses.
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Regulators said Wednesday that Amazon failed to delete children’s recordings and location information, in some cases before mid-2019 retaining transcripts parents specifically directed Alexa to erase.
More than 800,000 children under the age of 13 have their own Alexa profiles, according to the lawsuit filed by the Justice Department on behalf of the Federal Trade Commission. The voice assistant is especially popular with young children who can’t read but can access information and entertainment by talking to the device.
By recording children and using transcripts of those recordings to improve its product even after deletion requests, the U.S. government alleges that Amazon has violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998, a law that has recently been enforced against other popular tech companies including Fortnite-maker Epic Games and YouTube.
The commission is also fining the company over Ring, Amazon’s home surveillance company best known for its doorbell camera. Regulators say the company illegally allowed employees and contractors to view private videos of customer’s homes and are fining the company an additional $5.8 million.
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