Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) has finally agreed to allow police in Arkansas to access data from an Echo device following a confirmation by a murder defendant to do so. The accused James Andrew Bates is reported to have on two occasions warned Amazon against handing over the device to the authorities.
Bates is charged with the murder of Victor Collins but has pleaded not guilty citing that he woke up to find Collins dead. Hence it may have been a case of drowning. Collins was found floating dead in Bates’ hot tub in Bentonville, Arkansas. The investigations into the cause of the death occasioned the need to have any indicated information from the home assistant.
Amazon argued it would be in violation of consumer rights
The Seattle-based giant citing customers’ privacy rights as reasons for declining to cooperate with authorities. At some point, the company demanded to know from the government why it was asking for the device.
It argued, “Such government demands inevitably chill users from exercising their First Amendment rights to seek and receive information and expressive content in the privacy of their own home, conduct which lies at the core of the Constitution.”
Nonetheless, the company has softened its stand after the user consented to the disclosure of information in it and the case can now continue. A hearing has been set for Wednesday from which a determination will be made on whether or not the information on the device can be used against Bates. In the meantime, Bates’ attorney, Kathleen Zellner insists that her client is innocent.
Amazon is not in this alone
The case presents a scenario which other hardware makers have to be cautious about. It presents a conversation on privacy and First Amendment rights for home assistants, which apparently have become a basic device.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has previously encountered something similar to this with the FBI. The tech firm refused to cooperate in the unlocking of an iPhone that had been used by San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook. Nonetheless, the authorities still found a way out. Meanwhile, Amazon’s stock was trading at $846.02 decline of $0.59 or 0.07%
