Amazon’s Echo Dot for Kids is Not So Worry-Free

Children’s data privacy advocates filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission on Thursday morning, calling for the federal agency to investigate the “Kids Edition” of Amazon’s Echo Dot smart speaker.  The 96 page complaint was co-authored by the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC) and the Center for Digital Democracy (CDD), and co-signed by 17 other digital privacy and children’s rights organizations.

“Amazon markets Echo Dot Kids as a device to educate and entertain kids, but the real purpose is to amass a treasure trove of sensitive data that it refuses to relinquish even when directed to by parents,” CCFC’s executive director, Josh Golin, wrote in a statement.  “The FTC must hold Amazon accountable for blatantly violating children’s privacy law and putting kids at risk.”

Amazon launched the Echo Dot Kids Edition just over a year ago, promising that parents would have control over their children’s data through the device’s FreeTime service, and offering more than 2,000 kid-specific Alexa “skills” (mostly made by third parties like Disney, Nickelodeon, and National Geographic). In addition to parental controls, FreeTime includes kid-friendly radio stations from iHeartRadio and hundreds of kid-friendly audiobooks through Audible. It’s ad-free, blocks shopping, news, and other third-party skills that involve linking to outside accounts, and initially seemed like a solid option for parents looking to provide kids with screen-free downtime and educational entertainment.

Thursday’s complaint outlines several ways in which the device isn’t so worry-free. The Children’s Online Privacy and Protection Act (COPPA) of 1996 mandates that no data be collected about children under the age of 13 unless their parents explicitly consent on their behalf. In today’s complaint, the CCFC and CDD argue that the mechanism on the Echo Dot Kids Edition that is supposed to provide this consent can be easily bypassed by a child. Their study also found that voice recordings are kept forever by default — instead of, as COPPA mandates, only so long as is necessary to complete relevant tasks — and can’t be deleted without calling Amazon customer service.

Most glaringly, the CCFC performed a test in which it had a child tell Alexa a fake phone number, Social Security number, and food allergy, then asked an adult to delete all voice recordings and Alexa history in the Echo Dot app. Alexa still remembered the underlying information even once the transcript disappeared, and recited the supposedly removed sensitive data back to the child.

An Amazon spokesperson responded to the complaint via a statement which read, “FreeTime on Alexa and Echo Dot Kids Edition are compliant with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).”  And that’s all she wrote.  For now.  Keep watch as the story unfolds.

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