Flake, Coons Raise Concerns About Amazon Echo After Reports of Unauthorized Recording

Senate Judiciary Privacy Subcommittee Chairman Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and ranking member Chris Coons, D-Del., are demanding Amazon act on reports a Portland, Oregon, couple discovered Alexa software in their Amazon Echo device turned on and “was able to capture their private conversation” without permission and send it to a contact “known to the device.” Amazon “has stated that the company is evaluating options to make this series of events less likely to occur,” but “we are concerned that the device in this instance performed precisely how it was designed,” the senators wrote last week to CEO Jeff Bezos: “Without prompt and meaningful action, we expect that additional” similar incidents “will happen again.” Increasing popularity of “in-home, internet-connected devices and voice-activated technologies raises questions about the types of data they collect, store, and share, and the degree to which consumers control their personal information,” the senators said: Amazon and other companies “that offer services through these devices must address these concerns by prioritizing consumer privacy and protecting sensitive personal information.” Monday, Amazon didn’t comment. Ex-Cambridge Analytica contractor Aleksandr Kogan and others are to testify at a Tuesday Senate Consumer Protection Subcommittee hearing on privacy implications of the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica breach (see 1806130057 and 1806140054).