Amazon Echo (Alexa) VS Peloton Tread+
Verdict DROP IT DROP IT
The Reality The FTC and Department of Justice found Amazon violated the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by retaining children's Alexa voice recordings indefinitely -- keeping them for years -- and undermining parents' actual deletion requests: even when a parent asked Amazon to delete a child's data, the company failed to delete transcripts of what the child had said from all of its internal databases. Amazon agreed to pay a $25 million civil penalty in May 2023 and is now required to overhaul its deletion practices, delete inactive children's Alexa accounts, and implement new privacy safeguards around geolocation data. CPSC's official recall record documents a serious real-world hazard: the Tread+'s rear opening could pull under an adult, child, pet, or object during use. Peloton received 72 initial reports of pull-under incidents, including the death of a 6-year-old child and dozens of other injuries such as broken bones, serious cuts, and a brain injury, before the May 2021 recall. By the time the recall was finalized, the total had grown to 351 incident reports, including 90 injuries in addition to the one death. CPSC and Peloton jointly announced the recall of roughly 125,000 units, and Peloton offered full refunds through November 2022. In 2023, CPSC approved a rear-guard repair as an additional protective measure for the same entrapment hazard.
SHORT ANSWER
Amazon Echo (Alexa): The FTC and DOJ found Amazon retained children's Alexa voice recordings indefinitely and failed to honor parents' deletion requests across its systems, resulting in a $25 million COPPA settlement in 2023 and a mandated overhaul of its deletion practices.
Peloton Tread+: CPSC's official recall record shows a 6-year-old child died and 90 others were injured after being pulled under the Peloton Tread+'s rear opening, leading to a 2021 recall of roughly 125,000 units and a 2023 rear-guard repair program.