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technologyTechnology · 2023
Amazon.com Inc. (Alexa)
Amazon was fined $25 million for COPPA violations related to Alexa, specifically for retaining children's voice recordings, transcripts, and geolocation data indefinitely in violation of its own privacy promises and COPPA's data minimisation requirements. The FTC found Amazon retained children's voice data for years even after parents requested deletion, gave employees broad access to children's voice recordings, and used children's geolocation data for product improvement without parental consent. Internal Amazon managers had raised concerns about the retention practices that were overruled by business considerations.
Fine Imposed€23M
Authority
FTC-US
Regulation
FTC Act Section 5 — Unfair or Deceptive Acts or Practices
Max fine$51,744 per violation per day for post-order violations; initial enforcement via consent orders without direct fines
Statusactive
Key Takeaways
- Children's voice recordings are sensitive personal data under COPPA and must be deleted promptly upon parental request — indefinite retention for product improvement, even for internal use only, violates COPPA's purpose-limitation and deletion obligations.