Amazon.com Inc. is improperly recording and preserving the conversations of young users through its Echo Dot Kids devices, according to a complaint to be filed with federal regulators by a coalition of privacy and child-advocacy groups.
The complaint, which alleges Amazon AMZN, -0.17% stores the data in the cloud even after parents actively try to delete it, is one of the first to accuse the company of the sort of privacy abuses that have embroiled Facebook Inc. FB, -0.12% and Alphabet Inc.’s Google GOOGL, -0.69%
It claims that Amazon’s practices violate federal law protecting the online privacy of kids, and calls on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate. The Wall Street Journal reviewed a draft version of the complaint, which the advocacy groups say they intend to file with the FTC on Thursday.
A spokesperson for Amazon said the company is compliant with federal privacy laws and that its privacy policies are disclosed on the company’s website.
Also on Thursday, Sen. Edward Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts, sent a letter to the FTC asking the agency to investigate the findings. The letter was cosigned by fellow senators Richard Blumenthal (D., Conn.), Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) and Richard Durbin (D., Ill.).
An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.
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