In a pair of lawsuits aimed at alleged consumer privacy violations by Amazon, the Federal Trade Commission has announced that the retail and tech giant will pay more than $30 million in settlements while “overhauling” deletion practices tied to children’s voice information collected by Alexa and while tossing out data taken from Ring doorbell videos that shouldn’t have been surveilled.
In releasing the separate Alexa and Ring product suits on Wednesday along with the two proposed settlements, both of which are still subject to court order, it appeared that the FTC was sending a broader message to Big Tech and retail companies: As machine-learning and other advancements hurdle forward, we are watching, and we will take action.
