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Amazon agreed in 2023 to resolve two separate Federal Trade Commission matters involving Alexa and Ring, for a combined $30.8 million—not one $30 million settlement. The $25 million Alexa payment was a civil penalty over allegations involving children’s data; the $5.8 million Ring settlement was intended for consumer refunds. The FTC later announced that more than $5.6 million in Ring refunds was being sent to eligible consumers.
Two settlements, two different kinds of payment
The FTC and the Justice Department announced the Alexa action on May 31, 2023; the FTC announced the Ring action the same day. The amounts and remedies were distinct:
| Matter | Amount | What the payment was for |
|---|---|---|
| Alexa | $25 million | Civil penalty resolving allegations involving children’s privacy and related consumer-protection rules. |
| Ring | $5.8 million | Consumer redress intended for refunds, alongside privacy and security requirements. |
| Combined | $30.8 million | Two separate FTC matters, not a single consolidated payment. |
The amounts and case terms are described in the Justice Department’s Alexa announcement and the FTC’s Ring announcement.
What the FTC alleged about Alexa
The Alexa case centered on how Amazon handled children’s voice recordings and other personal information, rather than simply on the fact that a voice assistant can record commands. The FTC and DOJ alleged that Amazon retained children’s recordings longer than necessary, failed in some instances to honor parents’ deletion requests, and kept voice recordings and related data that could have been deleted. They also alleged that retained recordings were used to improve Alexa’s speech-recognition and processing systems.
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- Alexa is happy to help – Ask Alexa for weather updates and to set hands-free timers, get answers to your questions and even hear jokes. Need a few extra minutes in the morning? Just tap your Echo Dot to snooze your alarm.
- Keep your home comfortable – Control compatible smart home devices with your voice and routines triggered by built-in motion or indoor temperature sensors. Create routines to automatically turn on lights when you walk into a room, or start a fan if the inside temperature goes above your comfort zone.
- Do more with device pairing – Fill your home with music using compatible Echo devices in different rooms, or create a home theatre system with Fire TV.
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The agencies further raised concerns about geolocation and voice-data practices, including information associated with inactive child profiles. The FTC characterized aspects of those practices as unfair or deceptive. These are allegations resolved through a settlement, not a finding that every Alexa recording was improperly handled. The FTC-DOJ announcement and the Justice Department’s settlement summary set out the agencies’ claims and the resolution.
What the Alexa order required
The settlement included a $25 million civil penalty and obligations concerning data deletion, notice, privacy controls, and oversight. Among other requirements, Amazon had to delete certain data associated with inactive child profiles, change deletion practices, notify affected users about the action, maintain a privacy program focused on geolocation information, and keep records and report on compliance. The order also restricted misrepresentations about privacy practices involving voice and geolocation data.
Those terms should not be read as a requirement to erase every Alexa recording or as a ban on all use of voice data. The order’s obligations are more specific; its terms are summarized in the Justice Department announcement.
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- Your favorite music and content – Play music, audiobooks, and podcasts from Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify and others or via Bluetooth throughout your home.
- Alexa is happy to help – Ask Alexa for weather updates and to set hands-free timers, get answers to your questions and even hear jokes. Need a few extra minutes in the morning? Just tap your Echo Dot to snooze your alarm.
- Keep your home comfortable – Control compatible smart home devices with your voice and routines triggered by built-in motion or indoor temperature sensors. Create routines to automatically turn on lights when you walk into a room, or start a fan if the inside temperature goes above your comfort zone.
- Do more with device pairing – Fill your home with music using compatible Echo devices in different rooms, or create a home theatre system with Fire TV.
- Say goodbye to drop-offs and buffering - With eero Built-in, Echo Dot doubles as a mesh wifi extender, adding up to 1,000 sq. ft. of wifi coverage to your existing eero network.
What the FTC alleged about Ring
The Ring matter involved both internal access to customer footage and external security failures. The FTC alleged that employees and contractors had broader video access than necessary and that Ring did not adequately restrict or monitor that access. The complaint described an employee viewing intimate customer footage. The FTC also alleged that inadequate safeguards let attackers take control of some accounts, cameras, and videos, and that customer videos were used to train algorithms without adequate consent.
The FTC said more than 55,000 U.S. customers faced hacking attacks between January 2019 and March 2020. That figure is an allegation attributed to the FTC complaint, not an independently established count; contemporary reporting described it as such (Axios coverage). The FTC case page and its consumer explanation describe the allegations and settlement.
Who received money from the settlements?
Ring customers
In April 2024, the FTC announced that it was sending more than $5.6 million in refunds to eligible consumers stemming from the Ring settlement. The distribution was handled through the FTC’s refund process; consult the FTC refund announcement for official information.
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The FTC does not require people to pay a fee to receive a refund. Do not give a supposed refund agent a password, payment, banking credentials, or remote access to your computer. Treat unsolicited messages cautiously and verify any refund information through the FTC rather than relying on links in an unexpected message.
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Alexa users
The Alexa payment was a civil penalty, not a general refund fund for device owners. The settlement did not make Alexa users automatically eligible for a payment.
Amazon’s position and what a settlement means
Amazon said it disagreed with the FTC’s allegations and denied violating the law, while agreeing to settle the matters. Its position is set out in Amazon’s response to the Alexa settlement.
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- Your favorite music and content – Play music, audiobooks, and podcasts from Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify and others or via Bluetooth throughout your home.
- Alexa is happy to help – Ask Alexa for weather updates and to set hands-free timers, get answers to your questions and even hear jokes. Need a few extra minutes in the morning? Just tap your Echo Dot to snooze your alarm.
- Keep your home comfortable – Control compatible smart home devices with your voice and routines triggered by built-in motion or indoor temperature sensors. Create routines to automatically turn on lights when you walk into a room, or start a fan if the inside temperature goes above your comfort zone.
- Do more with device pairing – Fill your home with music using compatible Echo devices in different rooms, or create a home theatre system with Fire TV.
- Say goodbye to drop-offs and buffering - With eero Built-in, Echo Dot doubles as a mesh wifi extender, adding up to 1,000 sq. ft. of wifi coverage to your existing eero network.
- A settlement resolves a legal matter under agreed terms; it does not necessarily include an admission of liability.
- An admission of liability would be a formal acknowledgment that the company broke the law. Amazon denied wrongdoing.
- Injunctive relief requires changes or controls, such as deletion procedures, notices, privacy programs, or compliance reporting.
For that reason, the FTC’s claims should be described as allegations, while the penalties and required measures are terms of the settlements.
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The settlements address past allegations and required changes; they do not establish that current controls prevent every privacy or security risk. A settings change can reduce some exposure, but it does not make a connected device entirely private or necessarily erase every category of account, diagnostic, or transaction data.
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For Alexa households
- Review whether children use Alexa and whether child and adult profiles are configured separately.
- Check voice-history and deletion controls, and distinguish removing a visible recording from deleting every associated piece of data.
- Consider whether location access is needed for the features the household uses.
- Discuss with household members that commands may be processed through internet-connected services; turning off history storage does not necessarily remove the processing needed for the assistant to work.
For Ring households
- Enable two-factor authentication and use a unique password rather than reusing one from another service.
- Review account users, active sessions, old devices, and third-party integrations; remove access that is no longer needed.
- Check recording retention and whether footage is stored in the cloud or locally.
- Consider camera placement so footage does not unnecessarily capture neighbors, visitors, employees, or children in private spaces.
- Remember that a privacy shutter or camera cover does not necessarily disable a microphone.
A subscription may add recording or alert features, but it is not itself a privacy safeguard and may mean more footage is retained in a provider’s systems. Ring’s current plan details are available at Ring’s plans page.
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- KEEP YOUR HOME COMFORTABLE - Control compatible smart home devices. Just ask Alexa to turn on lights or touch the screen to dim. Create routines that use motion detection to turn down the thermostat as you head out or open the blinds when you walk into a room.
Why the cases matter beyond Amazon
Voice recordings and home-camera footage are unusually sensitive because they can reveal conversations, routines, relationships, and what happens inside a home. Cloud-connected devices also create two different control problems: who inside a company can access stored material, and whether outsiders can take over an account or device.
Data collected to operate a product can also have value for improving algorithms and services. That creates tension between product development and users’ expectations about how intimate recordings will be used. The FTC’s discussion of the Alexa and Ring matters connects these concerns to companies’ use of voice and video data to train algorithms (FTC analysis).
For consumers, a deletion button or privacy promise matters only if the company’s processes carry it out as represented. For connected cameras, security depends not just on encryption or a subscription, but also on access controls, account protection, retention, software, and how devices are used. Neither settlement establishes that Alexa or Ring is now risk-free, and neither proves that every current product or setting is unsafe.
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