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Virtual Assistants Such As Amazon's Echo Break US Child Privacy Law, Experts Say (theguardian.com)

Posted by msmash on from the things-we-overlook dept.

Mark Harris, reporting for The Guardian: An investigation by the Guardian has found that despite Amazon marketing the Echo to families with young children, the device is likely to contravene the US Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), set up to regulate the collection and use of personal information from anyone younger than 13. Along with Google, Apple and others promoting voice-activated artificial intelligence systems to young children, the company could now face multimillion-dollar fines. "This is part of the initial wave of marketing to children using the internet of things," says Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, a privacy advocacy group that helped write the law. "It is exactly why the law was enacted in the first place, to protect young people from pervasive data collection."

5 of 67 comments (clear)

  1. Children are not buying these devices. by ScentCone · · Score: 4, Insightful

    How is this not simply the parents' choice? Kids aren't buying Echo units and installing/using them. It's parents. If they make the conscious decision to introduce such a device into their homes, and decide to use them, that's all there is to it. They have chosen to be a household that uses this device and its associated services. If they don't like the implications of that, they can simply choose not to put the device in a space where kids will interact with it, or choose not to use it at all.

    People who are trying to make it more complicated than that are just looking for ways to get government more involved in what goes on inside the home.

    --
    Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
    1. Re:Children are not buying these devices. by Dutch+Gun · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I think the article answers this reasonably well:

      COPPA applies to online services that are either designed for children younger than 13 or that know those children are using them. Khaliah Barnes, associate director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), believes that by showing pre-teenage children using voice-activated AI devices, Amazon, Google and Apple are admitting their services are aimed at youngsters.

      “When your advertising markets this product to children, and parents with children, that would absolutely trigger COPPA,” she says. “Recording children in the privacy of the home is genuinely creepy, and this warrants additional investigation by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and [US] states.”

      Siri is being advertised using Sesame Street's cookie monster (check out TFA). That's absolutely targeted at children. And of course, we've heard about the toy products like Barbie that sends recorded data out across the net to a server where it's processed and responded to. I think the big problem is that the parents aren't necessarily aware of the implications of these devices. No one is explicitly told that everything they say is recorded and transmitted to corporate headquarters. Would people be slightly more averse to putting these devices in the home if they knew they were essentially constantly-on, remotely controlled microphones? Maybe... maybe not.

      I'm definitely not a "regulate first and ask questions later" sort of guy, so I'd say it's probably best to simply watch this space really carefully. We can always introduce new, specific legislation as the need arises to deal with potential threats. I think it's generally a bad idea for legislation to try to preempt problems that don't actually exist yet - you know... "for the children", etc. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't keep a close eye on what's happening here.

      --
      Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
  2. Re:So why are kids protected... by fluffernutter · · Score: 1, Insightful

    That's only a valid answer if there is an alternative comparable device to use. Many many people no longer have a choice to avoid these devices altogether, whether it be for a work requirement, etc.

    --
    Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
  3. Re:So why are kids protected... by DogDude · · Score: 2, Insightful

    That's only a valid answer if there is an alternative comparable device to use. Many many people no longer have a choice to avoid these devices altogether, whether it be for a work requirement, etc.

    Huh? In what way is this device necessary for ANY function, whatsoever?

    --
    I don't respond to AC's.
  4. Re:All your kids are belong to us by cayenne8 · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Hey....

    The kids gotta learn to start ignoring ads at some point in their life.

    Maybe we're looking at this wrong. Educate them early on what worthless advertising is...and train them to ignore it.

    This will greatly benefit them as young and older adults.

    --
    Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........