You might have heard that back in December, police were requesting that Amazon hand over data collected by an Amazon Echo in which it might be used as evidence in a murder case. However it seems that Amazon isn’t that interested in handing over the information and have filed a motion to throw out the search warrant.
According to a report from AP, Amazon is insisting that both user voice commands as well as the replies by Alexa (its voice assistant software) are protected by the First Amendment. Amazon isn’t outright refusing to cooperate, but rather they are saying that should prosecutors want access to the recordings, the demand needs to be subjected to a “heightened standard”.
This means that the prosecutors will have to prove that they are unable to find the information elsewhere and will have to demonstrate a compelling need for the recordings, as opposed to requesting for the recordings because it is “easier”. Amazon claims that so far the prosecution has not be able to establish compelling need for Alexa’s data.
However should Amazon’s request be denied, they want the court to review the data first and make sure it is relevant to the case before handing it over to the prosecution. For those unfamiliar with the case, this involves the death of Victor Collins in 2015 where he was found floating face up in a hot tub at the home of his friend.
His friend, James Andrew Bates, claim that it was an accidental drowning, but the eyes and lips of Collins was swollen, and there were drops of blood found around the tub. There was also an Echo speaker nearby and authorities believe it could have been activated with a wake word, which they believe could also result in recordings that could help shed some light on what happened.