Alexa Gets Sued

A class action alleging Amazon’s Alexa virtual-assistant product violates the privacy rights of minors has been filed against Amazon in a Washington state court. The complaint contends that Alexa’s modus operandi differs from and is more intrusive than the one employed by Apple and its Siri product, and specifically that Alexa’s recording of children’s voices and the way that it uses that data constitutes a violation of privacy laws in Massachusetts and a number of other states. The lead plaintiff is a ten-year-old resident of Massachusetts. The suit was filed by law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, which has an office in Seattle, which is also Amazon’s headquarters. Amazon, in a statement, said that its system makes it easy for customers to manage their privacy settings, and that it specifically provides an option to review and delete recordings.