FTC v. Amazon (Alexa) — $25M COPPA + Alexa Voice Recording Settlement
FTC · United States v. Amazon.com, Inc., No. 2:23-cv-00811 (W.D. Wash. July 25, 2023)
Companion FTC action settled with Amazon's Alexa division for $25M in 2023, alleging Amazon retained children's voice recordings indefinitely despite COPPA, deleted records when parents requested but kept transcripts and the underlying voice models, and used the data to train Alexa's voice-recognition AI.
Technical detail
United States v. Amazon.com, Inc. (Alexa), No. 2:23-cv-00811 (W.D. Wash., consent order July 25, 2023). COPPA + FTC Act § 5 violations. $25M civil penalty; conduct relief: delete inactive children's accounts' voice recordings and transcripts; delete geolocation data; delete neural-net models trained on those voice recordings; ongoing privacy program.
Who is protected: Children using Alexa (and parents) under COPPA
Who must comply: Amazon.com, Inc.
Key facts
| Jurisdiction | FTC |
|---|---|
| Level | Federal |
| Status | In effect |
| Protection strength | Moderate protection |
| Effective date | 2023-07-25 |
| Citation | United States v. Amazon.com, Inc., No. 2:23-cv-00811 (W.D. Wash. July 25, 2023) |
| Topics | children's online safety · consumer data privacy · biometric data · consumer protection |
| Last verified | 2026-06-17 |
| Official source | FTC + DOJ Charge Amazon with Children's Privacy Violations — FTC press release ↗ |
More AI rules in FTC
- FTC v. Rite Aid · In effect
- FTC v. Amazon (Ring) · In effect
- FTC v. NGL Labs · In effect
- FTC v. DoNotPay · In effect
- FTC v. Rytr · In effect
- FTC Operation AI Comply (Sept. 2024) · In effect
Related children's online safety rules elsewhere
- PA v. Character.AI (Fake Psychiatrist Chatbot) · Blocked / in litigation
- RI AI Companion Self-Harm Safety (2026) · In effect
- Kids Internet and Digital Safety Act (KIDS Act) (H.R. 7757) · Proposed / pending
- Washington HB 2225 (AI chatbot disclosure, minor protections, crisis protocols) · Enacted (not yet in effect)
- Oregon SB 1546 (AI companion chatbot disclosure + private right of action) · Enacted (not yet in effect)
- xAI v. Harwood (Grok NCII Counter-Suit 2026) · Blocked / in litigation
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