A federal judge has certified a nationwide class-action lawsuit against Amazon over its Alexa voice assistant, allowing millions of registered users to pursue claims that the company unlawfully collected and retained voice data. The decision, issued by U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik in Seattle in July 2025, represents one of the most expansive privacy cases to date involving voice-enabled devices.
Claims Against Amazon’s Alexa
The certified class covers U.S. residents who registered one or more Alexa devices. Plaintiffs allege that Amazon recorded portions of billions of private conversations, including interactions involving children, and stored the data indefinitely. The complaint states that Amazon used these recordings to train algorithms and AI systems, while failing to fully delete them even when customers requested removal. Amazon has denied wrongdoing, saying Alexa does not intentionally record conversations and that users have tools to manage and delete their recordings.
Legal documents emphasize that Alexa devices activate upon hearing specific wake words but may capture more audio than users expect. Plaintiffs argue this practice amounts to unauthorized surveillance and a violation of federal and state privacy laws. Amazon maintains that its data practices are consistent with improving the functionality of Alexa and enhancing the customer experience.
Broader Legal and Regulatory Context
The nationwide class certification builds on earlier litigation in Illinois under the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). Court rulings such as Rosenbach v. Six Flags in 2019 and Cothron v. White Castle in 2023 expanded the scope of potential biometric privacy claims, though amendments passed in 2024 later limited per-person damages and allowed for electronic consent. The Alexa lawsuit now extends privacy claims to a broader U.S. audience and could set important precedent for voice assistant technologies.
Separate proceedings are underway in Canada, where a proposed class action seeks to represent residents with Alexa accounts registered between 2014 and July 19, 2023. That case highlights international concerns about the handling of voice data and potential cross-border liability for technology companies operating global platforms.
The certification follows Amazon’s 2023 settlement with the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice over children’s privacy violations. In that case, Amazon agreed to pay a USD 25 million penalty and implement restrictions requiring deletion of inactive children’s accounts, related voice recordings, and geolocation data, while prohibiting the use of such information for algorithm training. Regulators said the company had retained children’s recordings longer than necessary, even after deletion requests.
Legal experts say the Alexa class action underscores growing judicial scrutiny of how large technology companies handle biometric and voice data. If successful, the case could influence how voice assistant providers design privacy controls, disclosures, and retention policies in the years ahead.
Sources: Reuters
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By Cass Kennedy
