Class Action
Garner v. Amazon (Alexa)
Garner v. Amazon.com, Inc.
Where it stands
Judge Robert S. Lasnik granted class certification on July 7, 2025 under Washington's Consumer Protection Act, finding plaintiffs showed Amazon 'uniformly deceived class members by recording them even in the absence of a wake word.' That finding was made for class-certification purposes under Rule 23 and is not a merits determination that Amazon is liable. Some claims were trimmed at the pleading stage; the case remains in active litigation. Reuters reported the certification as clearing Amazon to face a U.S. class action over Alexa users' privacy.
Key ruling
July 7, 2025 class certification order — a rare certification of a nationwide voice-assistant recording class, resting on Washington consumer-protection law rather than a state wiretap statute, avoiding the individualized-consent problem that has defeated certification in California wiretap cases.
Note on this record
This is separate from Amazon's 2023 FTC settlement over Alexa children's recordings, which resolved government claims only.The record
- Court
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington
- Case number
- 2:21-cv-00750-RSL
- Filed
- Filing date not established
- Defendants
- Amazon.com, Inc. · Amazon.com Services LLC
- Plaintiffs
- Nationwide class of individuals with registered Alexa-enabled devices whose conversations were recorded without a wake word, retained indefinitely, subjected to human review, and used commercially without consent or compensation.
- Technology at issue
- Amazon Alexa voice assistant and Echo family devices
- Relief sought
- Damages and injunctive relief under Washington's Consumer Protection Act and federal and state wiretapping statutes, including deletion of unlawfully retained recordings.
- Counsel of record
- Labaton Keller Sucharow LLP
Claims pleaded
Sources (3)
- Garner v. Amazon.com, Inc. — case pageLabaton Keller Sucharow LLP
- Amazon must face US class action over Alexa users' privacyReuters · 2025-07
- Amazon wins partial dismissal in Alexa wiretapping class actionCourthouse News Service
This page describes a publicly filed case. This site is not counsel on this matter, nothing here is legal advice, and the allegations described are allegations unless a court has said otherwise.