Judge Grants Class Cert in Amazon Alexa Privacy Case
A federal judge granted class action certification on Monday in a 2021 case alleging Amazon unlawfully recorded and collected private conversations through its virtual assistant Alexa, without notice or consent. Case 21-00750 alleges violation of six states’ wiretap laws and Washington state’s Consumer Protection Act.
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Judge Robert Lasnik ruled that since "millions of people were allegedly injured by the same conduct suggests that" a class action "is the only way to both adjudicate related claims and avoid overwhelming the courts."
Filed in the U.S. District Court for Western Washington, the complaint claims that Amazon invaded customer privacy by using Alexa to save permanent voice recordings without customer knowledge and consent. Specifically, the suit noted Alexa's practice of recording audio that occurred after a designated "wake word" was said and sending the recording to Amazon servers for processing before receiving relevant data back for a response.