#amazon says Alexa’s speech is protected by the First Amendment
February 23, 2017 | Uncategorized
Amazon has filed a motion to dismiss a search warrant for recordings from an Echo owned by a suspected murderer. Amazon argues that both its users’ requests to Alexa and the response the company produces are protected under the First Amendment. The company says it should only have to turn this data over if law enforcement meets a high burden of proof.
The criminal case involves a man named James Andrew Bates. Bates lives in Bentonville, Arkansas and happens to own a few gadgets, including an Amazon Echo. Local police allege that Bates killed a man named Victor Collins, who was found dead in Bates’ hot tub in November 2015.
Police issued a search warrant to seize all records of communications and transactions between Bates’ Echo and…
