The investigation "revealed that Echo Dot Kids... violates the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) in many ways. Amazon collects sensitive personal information from kids, including their voice recordings and data gleaned from kids’ viewing, reading, listening, and purchasing habits, and retains it indefinitely."
Amazon, already under fire this year for employing teams of people to listen into Echo voice recordings to help train the system's AI and fill in gaps in its understanding, has now been accused of spying on our kids as well. The company's family-friendly Echo Dot Kids has been accused of listening in when it shouldn't, and even keeping recordings made by the devices after parents have tried to delete them.
Many smart-speaker owners don't realize it,"
reported the
Washington Post this week, "
but Amazon keeps a copy of everything Alexa records after it hears its name. Apple's Siri, and until recently Google's Assistant, by default also keep recordings to help train their artificial intelligence."
The smart speaker market is
forecast to hit 200 million globally this year and 500 million by 2023. The Echo Dot Kids is an attempt by Amazon to broaden the market still further, in what was claimed and should be a family-friendly, secure and safe way. Apparently not. The Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood has
published the results of an investigation into Echo Dots Kids and is "
calling on the FTC to investigate Amazon for this and other blatant violations of children's privacy law ."
The news that Amazon had people actually listening in was disturbing enough, especially with claims that staff had heard crimes and assaults being committed but were powerless to act or trace the source. The extension of this type of privacy breach into our children's bedrooms and private lives will take such angst significantly further.
The investigation "revealed that Echo Dot Kids... violates the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) in many ways.
Amazon collects sensitive personal information from kids, including their voice recordings and data gleaned from kids' viewing, reading, listening, and purchasing habits, and retains it indefinitely."
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