What you say at home is what you do Do at your home. It doesn’t get more private than this. But according to two recent FTC complaints, Amazon and Ring used this highly private data—recordings collected by Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant and video collected by Ring’s connected home security cameras—to train their algorithms while ignoring customers’ privacy.These matters are the first announced since the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) New Deal Biometrics Policy Statementoffers important lessons for companies using artificial intelligence, biometric data, and other sensitive information.
Artificial intelligence and privacy should go hand in hand. In this age of artificial intelligence, developers typically require more and more data, regardless of its source. But be careful when collecting or storing consumer data. Under the Section 5 unfairness standard, the FTC considers not only the potential benefits of AI but also the costs to consumers. According to the complaint, Amazon and Ring failed the test. The FTC alleged that Ring’s data access practices resulted in espionage and harassment, while Amazon’s permanent retention of voice data and shoddy deletion practices put consumers’ voice recordings at risk of unnecessary employee access. Message to businesses: The FTC will hold businesses accountable for how they obtain, retain and use consumer data to power its algorithms.As the commissioners stated in their report Joint statement on the Alexa incidentmachine learning is not illegal permission.
Consumers, not companies, control their data. Some companies believe they are free to use personal data in their possession for any purpose they choose. Not so fast. FTC Complaint Amazon and ring Make it clear that companies that ignore consumers’ rights to control their data do so at their peril. The FTC said in its complaint that Ring allows all employees and contractors to access customers’ videos to train algorithms (among other things) by simply checking “agree.” But this is not enough to ensure that users truly control what happens to their information. In Amazon’s complaint, the FTC said Amazon violated parents’ rights under the Consumer Protection Act. Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) Rules Delete your child’s recordings. Under COPPA rules, parents have the right to decide what data companies store about their children and what data they delete. The result is clear: Any company that undermines consumers’ control over their data could face enforcement action from the FTC.
Implement special safeguards for manual review and employee access to sensitive data. AI developers often rely on human reviewers to tag and annotate materials for training machine learning algorithms. But do consumers know when their data is being scrutinized? In its complaint, the FTC said Ring hid the review from its customers and allowed reviewers to abuse access to consumer videos.So Ring’s customers—people who buy Ring products more Security – ultimately the target of spying and surveillance by Ring employees.Amazon’s complaint also alleges that Amazon failed to use appropriate controls to limit which employees could access Alexa users’ recordings, leaving thousands of employees of employees have access to sensitive recordings they don’t need. Companies that rely on manual review take note that safeguarding sensitive data, including strict access controls, cannot be an afterthought. They should be the first step.
The FTC protects biometric data. Last month, the Federal Trade Commission issued Policy Statement on the Protection of Biometric Data. The statement explains that biometric data – whether fingerprints and iris scans or videos and recordings – should be protected to the greatest extent possible due to its inherent sensitivity and potential for bias, discrimination and other harmful uses. The FTC’s settlement with Amazon and Ring underscores that when the FTC says protecting biometric data is a top priority, it means what it says—the Commission will support this policy through enforcement actions.
The Federal Trade Commission uses every tool at its disposal to protect children’s privacy. Following a series of enforcement actions regarding the privacy of children and young people (think Microsoft, epic game, Edmundo, Weight Watchers (Kurbo)and Chege), it should be clear that protecting children is the FTC’s top priority. This is especially true at the intersection of artificial intelligence and the privacy of children and adolescents.inside Amazon Complaint, the FTC alleged that Amazon permanently retained children’s recordings (including audio files and transcripts) and violated parents’ right to deletion. According to the complaint, Amazon can use the data for natural language processing.inside Ring Complaint, the Federal Trade Commission described Ring as cavalier about privacy and security, despite the fact that its cameras are marketed for spying on children’s bedrooms. What’s the FTC’s response? No dice. The FTC will use all tools at its disposal, including the COPPA Rules and the FTC Act’s prohibitions on deceptive and unfair conduct, to protect children’s privacy.
Want to keep your algorithms and data products? Data obtained legally. Via Ring and Alexa, and curve, Cambridge Analyticaand albumSince then, the FTC has obtained multiple orders requiring companies to delete data and Remove or avoid producing data products such as algorithms, models and other tools derived from improper data. These actions make it clear that there is no free pass for data abuse. If you illegally obtain or misuse consumer data, you will likely be billed for your data products.
