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Amazon Hit With Privacy Lawsuit Over Location Data https://ift.tt/T8gLCfS A California resident has accused Amazon of secretly collecting sensitive geolocation data from smartphone owners who download apps that allegedly contain the company's software development kit. “Amazon developed and disseminated a software development kit ... called the Amazon Ads SDK that enables backdoor access to consumers’ devices and opens a direct data collection pipeline to Amazon and its advertising partners,” Felix Kolotinsky alleges in a class-action complaint brought Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The complaint claims that Amazon violated California's anti-hacking law by accessing consumers' mobile computers without their permission, and violated a state restrictions on collecting metadata associated with electronic communications. Kolotinsky alleges that the Amazon Ads SDK allows the company to collect “precise and timestamped latitude and longitude geolocation coordinates from consumers’ devices,” as well as mobile identifiers (alphanumeric strings comparable to serial numbers) and device fingerprint data -- such as information about phone's models, operating systems, screen size and other details that allow companies to track people based on their phones' characteristics. advertisement advertisement “Consumers are never informed about Amazon’s SDK nor are they allowed to opt-in or opt-out of Amazon’s data collection practices -- if they even know what the Amazon Ads SDK is, let alone that it is embedded in the apps they are using,” the complaint alleges. “Amazon’s unauthorized data collection was neither incidental nor accidental,” he adds. Kolotinsky alleges in the complaint that downloaded Ookla's Speedtest app -- which allows people to test the speed of their broadband connections -- and enabled location services in order to share his location with the app. He adds that he was not informed that the app contained the Amazon Ads SDK, and didn't consent to share data with Amazon. “Prior to collecting timestamped geolocation information, unique device IDs, device fingerprint data, and information about which locations he visited, neither Amazon nor Speedtest informed or otherwise disclosed to Plaintiff that Amazon’s Ads SDK was embedded in the Speedtest app, or that if he used the Speedtest app, Amazon would collect his precise geolocation information,” he alleges. He is seeking an injunction barring Amazon from violating California laws, and monetary damages. Amazon has not yet responded to MediaPost's request for comment.
Mobile Marketing via MediaPost.com: mobile https://ift.tt/rFljqzY January 30, 2025 at 04:28PM
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