Amazon fined $30 million for storing user data

Amazon has agreed to pay a $30 million fine to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for violating user privacy.

Despite customer requests to delete data obtained through the Alexa voice assistant and Ring doorbell cameras, Amazon had stored video and voice messages for years. In addition, according to the FTC, the corporation violated the Children’s Online Privacy and Protection Act. It imposes restrictions on collecting personal information about children under 13 without parental consent.

In accordance with the agreements with the FTC, the company committed to delete such information and not to use this data for training algorithms. The regulator stressed that the corporation’s apparent violation of the rules could have led to the unlawful disclosure of confidential information to third parties. Amazon executives, on the other hand, deny violating the law, according to the statement.

Amazon was founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994 as an online bookstore. In 2014, the corporation developed the virtual assistant Alexa, and in 2018 it acquired the company that makes the Ring doorbell home security system.

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