Group Says Amazon Echo Dot Kids Edition Not Forgetting Personal Information It Hears
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - Child safety advocates are demanding the federal government investigate Amazon's popular Echo Dot Kids Edition.
They say it violates children's privacy law and is putting kids at risk, reports CBS2's Dick Brennan.
Amazon's Echo Dot is marketed as a way to educate and entertain children, but consumer and public health advocates say the Amazon home assistant violates children's privacy.
An investigation led in part by Georgetown Law's Institute for Public Representation published a video showing the device won't forget what children tell it, even after parents try to delete the conversations.
"Even though there's a delete button, you can press the delete button, it doesn't actually delete the information," said Angela J. Campbell, a professor at Georgetown Law. "It actually always comes back."
The groups sent a complaint to the federal trade commission Thursday, demanding the FTC investigate Amazon for violating the children's online privacy protection act.
"This could be very sensitive information," said Campbell. "Really personal data that they can mine for all different kinds of purposes."
In a statement, Amazon said its Echo Dot Kids Edition is compliant with the children's online privacy act.
Parent Samantha Moses says the complaint is troubling.
"In the baby's room, she is lights on, lights off, but yeah we hadn't heard that," said Moses. "If that's the case, I kind of will think about changing."
It is unclear if the FTC will take up the complaint, but experts say the agency has been ramping up enforcement of children's privacy rules lately.
Earlier this year, the agency imposed a $5.7 million fine on the popular video sharing app Tik Tok for collecting children's data.
