Last month, Amazon revealed it accidentally revealed user emails due to a technical error. Now a German report suggests the retail giant is facing another privacy crisis. According to Heise, Amazon mistakenly sent 1,700 audio recordings from Echo smart devices from one user to another.
Echo is Amazon’s series of smart speakers that are constantly listening when they are on. In other words, even conversations not directed at the devices are collected. Privacy questions have been raised before and Heise highlights why these concerns may have merit.
The publication says an Echo device sent 1,700 recordings from one user to another when Alexa was requested to play back recordings. For some reason, the Echo played back recordings from another user.
Firstly, this shows that Amazon holds people’s recordings. The company confirmed the problem and says it was caused by “human error”.
Speaking to Reuters, the company says:
“We resolved the issue with the two customers involved and took measures to further optimize our processes. As a precautionary measure we contacted the relevant authorities.”
The person who received the recordings saved the audio and notified Amazon. Somehow a third-party user was able to receive private files and he says Amazon’s response was to ignore the warning.
Recent Problems
In November, Amazon confirmed it had accidentally exposed user emails. In a statement at the time, the company an internal error had caused the breach.
“We’re contacting you to let you know that our website inadvertently disclosed your email address due to a technical error. The issue has been fixed. This is not a result of anything you have done, and there is no need for you to change your password or take any other action.”
