📢 Amazon Fo Pay $25 Million Fo Settle Charges ‘Bout Children’s Privacy 🚫🔒

Regulators stay saying da big-time tech giant Amazon wen keep children’s Alexa voice recordings “forever,” and dass against da law ’bout children’s privacy. Amazon stay on da hook now, having agreed to pay one civil penalty of $25 million fo settle federal charges. Da company stay accused of keeping sensitive information collected from children for many years, including their exact locations and voice recordings, which violate da law ’bout online privacy fo children. 💸🔐🚫

Dis stay da latest legal action as part of one growing regulatory effort fo make da biggest tech platforms in da world bettah protect their young users. 📈🌍🔒

Da case, brought by da Federal Trade Commission and da Justice Department, stay focused on how Amazon wen handle da personal details dey collect from children who wen talk wit Alexa, da company’s voice-activated virtual assistant. 🤔📞🧒

Regulators wen file one complaint in U.S. District Court fo da Western District of Washington, claiming dat Amazon wen keep da voice recordings of young people who wen talk wit Alexa indefinitely. Dey wen use da data fo business purposes, like training deir algorithms fo undastand children, violating da federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. 😠🗂️🎙️

Dat law, known as COPPA, require online services aimed at people younger than 13 fo obtain parental consent befoa collecting a child’s personal details and fo allow parents to have deir children’s data deleted. But even aftah parents sought to delete deir children’s voice recordings, Amazon wen fail fo delete transcripts of da children’s conversations wit Alexa from all its databases, regulators said. 📚👨‍👩‍👧‍👦📞🗑️

“Amazon’s history of misleading parents, keeping children’s recordings indefinitely, and flouting parents’ deletion requests violated” da children’s online privacy law and “sacrificed privacy for profits,” Samuel Levine, director of da F.T.C.’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in one statement. “COPPA no let companies keep children’s data foreva fo any reason, and certainly not to train deir algorithms.” 😡💻🙅‍♂️🚫💰

Da complaint also charge Amazon wit deceiving consumers, including parents, by repeatedly assuring users dey could delete data, like deir Alexa voice recordings, yet failing to adequately honor users’ deletion requests. ❌🗂️📞

Even dough it agreed to settle da charges, Amazon say it disagreed wit da F.T.C.’s claims and deny violating da children’s law. 🤝❌🚫

“We built Alexa wit strong privacy protections and customer controls,” da company say in one statement. Da statement add dat da company had design Amazon Kids, one service dat enables parents fo manage games, books, and oddah content fo deir children, fo comply wit da children’s online privacy law, and dat Amazon had work wit da F.T.C. befoa expanding da children’s content service fo include Alexa.​ 🛡️🔒👨‍👩‍👧‍👦🎮📚

Undah da terms of da proposed settlement agreement, Amazon goin’ need fo delete children’s voice recordings and precise location data as well as inactive Alexa accounts belonging to children. Da proposed agreement also goin’ prohibit Amazon from misrepresenting how it handles users’ voice recordings, precise location data, and children’s data. 🗑️🗺️🤫🚫

One federal court gotta approve da settlement order. 👨‍⚖️✅

Da Amazon case come at one time wen plenny people stay moa concerned ’bout how social networks, video game services, and device makers treat deir younger users. Dis case highlight da regulatory push by da Federal Trade Commission fo make da big tech platforms do moa fo protect sensitive information, like precise location or personal health details, dat could cause privacy issues or physical risks fo adult consumers and children. 📱🔒👧👦

Las December, Epic Games, da company behind Fortnite, wen agree fo pay $520 million to settle allegations from da F.T.C. dat dey wen illegally gather data from players unda 13 and fo steer millions of users fo make payments dey neva want. In 2019, Google wen agree to pay one $170 million penalty to settle charges from da F.T.C. and da attorney general of New York dat dey wen violate children’s privacy on YouTube. 🎮💰👨‍⚖️

Da push fo protect keiki online stay happening not only in da United States. Las September, regulators in Ireland wen announce dat dey goin’ impose one fine of ’bout $400 million on Meta fo how dey handle children’s information on Instagram. Meta wen say dey no agree wit da fine and goin’ appeal. 🌍💻🔒

In one separate case on Wednesday, da F.T.C. wen accuse Ring, da home security camera service, of committing “egregious violations” of user privacy. Dey stay sayin’ dat Ring, which Amazon wen buy in 2018, had “unreasonable” practices fo data security and privacy from 2016 to January 2020. 🚨🔒🔍💻

In 2017, for example, one Ring employee wen watch thousands of videos belongin’ to dozens of wahine customers, even in private places like da bedroom and bathroom. Dis stay according to da agency’s complaint filed in U.S. District Court fo da District of Columbia. 📅🔞📹👁️‍🗨️👩‍🦰🚻

Da proposed settlement order would require Amazon fo pay $5.8 million fo refund consumers, implement strict security measures, and delete any algorithms or oddah data products dat come from illegal viewing of consumers’ videos. 💸📉🗂️🗑️

In one statement, Amazon say Ring had address da security and privacy issues befoa da F.T.C. start da investigation. 📝🛡️👍

---

NOW IN ENGLISH

📢 Amazon to Pay $25 Million to Settle Charges About Children’s Privacy 🚫🔒

Regulators are saying that the big-time tech giant Amazon has been keeping children’s Alexa voice recordings “forever,” and that is against the law regarding children’s privacy. Amazon is now on the hook, having agreed to pay a civil penalty of $25 million to settle federal charges. The company is accused of keeping sensitive information collected from children for many years, including their exact locations and voice recordings, which violate the law regarding online privacy for children. 💸🔐🚫

This is the latest legal action as part of a growing regulatory effort to make the biggest tech platforms in the world better protect their young users. 📈🌍🔒

The case, brought by the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department, focuses on how Amazon has handled the personal details they collect from children who interact with Alexa, the company’s voice-activated virtual assistant. 🤔📞🧒

Regulators have filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, claiming that Amazon has been keeping the voice recordings of young people who talk to Alexa indefinitely. They have used the data for business purposes, such as training their algorithms to understand children, thus violating the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. 😠🗂️🎙️

That law, known as COPPA, requires online services aimed at people younger than 13 to obtain parental consent before collecting a child’s personal details and to allow parents to have their children’s data deleted. But even after parents sought to delete their children’s voice recordings, Amazon failed to delete transcripts of the children’s conversations with Alexa from all its databases, regulators said. 📚👨‍👩‍👧‍👦📞🗑️

“Amazon’s history of misleading parents, keeping children’s recordings indefinitely, and flouting parents’ deletion requests violated” the children’s online privacy law and “sacrificed privacy for profits,” Samuel Levine, director of the F.T.C.’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in one statement. “COPPA does not allow companies to keep children’s data forever for any reason, and certainly not to train their algorithms.” 😡💻🙅‍♂️🚫💰

The complaint also charges Amazon with deceiving consumers, including parents, by repeatedly assuring users that they could delete data, like their Alexa voice recordings, yet failing to adequately honor users’ deletion requests. ❌🗂️📞

Even though it agreed to settle the charges, Amazon says it disagrees with the F.T.C.’s claims and denies violating the children’s law. 🤝❌🚫

“We built Alexa with strong privacy protections and customer controls,” the company says in one statement. The statement adds that the company had designed Amazon Kids, a service that enables parents to manage games, books, and other content for their children, to comply with the children’s online privacy law, and that Amazon had worked with the F.T.C. before expanding the children’s content service to include Alexa.​ 🛡️🔒👨‍👩‍👧‍👦🎮📚

Under the terms of the proposed settlement agreement, Amazon will need to delete children’s voice recordings and precise location data, as well as inactive Alexa accounts belonging to children. The proposed agreement also prohibits Amazon from misrepresenting how it handles users’ voice recordings, precise location data, and children’s data. 🗑️🗺️🤫🚫

A federal court must approve the settlement order. 👨‍⚖️✅

The Amazon case comes at a time when many people are more concerned about how social networks, video game services, and device makers treat their younger users. This case highlights the regulatory push by the Federal Trade Commission to make the big tech platforms do more to protect sensitive information, such as precise location or personal health details, that could cause privacy issues or physical risks for adult consumers and children. 📱🔒👧👦

Last December, Epic Games, the company behind Fortnite, agreed to pay $520 million to settle allegations from the F.T.C. that they had illegally gathered data from players under 13 and steered millions of users to make unwanted payments. In 2019, Google agreed to pay a $170 million penalty to settle charges from the F.T.C. and the attorney general of New York that they had violated children’s privacy on YouTube. 🎮💰👨‍⚖️

The push to protect children online is not limited to the United States. Last September, regulators in Ireland announced that they would impose a fine of about $400 million on Meta for how they handle children’s information on Instagram. Meta says they disagree and plan to appeal. 🌍💻🔒

In a separate case on Wednesday, the F.T.C. accused Ring, the home security camera service, of committing “egregious violations” of user privacy. They say that Ring, which Amazon acquired in 2018, had “unreasonable” practices for data security and privacy from 2016 to January 2020. 🚨🔒🔍💻

In 2017, for example, one Ring employee watched thousands of videos belonging to dozens of female customers, even in private places like the bedroom and bathroom. This is according to the agency’s complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. 📅🔞📹👁️‍🗨️👩‍🦰🚻

The proposed settlement order would require Amazon to pay $5.8 million to refund consumers, implement strict security measures, and delete any algorithms or other data products that come from the illegal viewing of consumers’ videos. 💸📉🗂️🗑️

In a statement, Amazon says Ring had addressed the security and privacy issues before the F.T.C. had begun its inquiry. 📝🛡️👍