Amazon will be sued by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over claims that it gathered and utilized data on children without parental consent via its Alexa-enabled intelligent speakers.
The DOJ may launch the claim on behalf of the FTC. The FTC must forward its complaint to the civil division of the Department of Justice, which has 45 days to file suit. Penalties for violations of COPPA cannot exceed $50,000 per incident; however, each impacted user is treated as a separate incident. Lina Khan, the head of the FTC, is skeptical of large technology companies.
Amazon has taken issue with Khan in the past, requesting that she be removed from any FTC investigations involving the company.
The Federal Trade Commission is looking into whether or not Amazon’s $1.7 billion purchase of iRobot created privacy hazards and gave the business more access to customer data. Thus far, Amazon has ignored the FTC’s inquiry into its business practices. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is looking into several different legal actions that could be taken against Amazon, including an antitrust case against the company’s retail operations, a case against an alleged “dark pattern,” an investigation into the company’s “Amazon Choice” label, and a private investigation into Amazon’s Ring camera and security system business.
As Amazon has emerged as a leader in AI, the FTC is considering expanding its role to include regulation and oversight of AI systems. The agency may decide not to proceed with any case at any time. Lawsuits brought by the FTC against large technology firms have been complicated by the corporations’ ownership over data essential to the enforcement process.
Amazon has been the subject of inquiry by authorities in other countries in addition to the Federal Trade Commission, with which it settled a complaint for $60 million. Two antitrust proceedings filed by the EU against Amazon over its handling of third-party vendors on its platform were resolved in December 2022.
