US police issue search warrant for suspect's Amazon Echo to aid murder case investigations
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An Amazon Echo owned by a murder suspect could hold information that will aid police investigations.
PHOTO: AMAZON
ARKANSAS - A smart speaker developed by Amazon could hold the key in solving a murder case.
In what many believe to be the first such request, police in the city of Bentonville have issued a warrant to retrieve information from an Amazon Echo to aid in their investigations.
The case involves James Andrew Bates, whose friend Victor Collins was found dead in a hot tub in Bates' home in November last year.
The victim was believed to have been strangled by Bates and then drowned.
Police have since charged Bates, 31, with murder. He is currently out on bail, reported USA TODAY.
Amazon has refused to provide the data requested, which court documents revealed was "electronic data in the form of audio recordings, transcribed records, or other text records related to communications and transactions between an Amazon Echo device" located at Bates' residence and Amazon.com's services between Nov 21 and 22 last year.
It did, however, give the police Bates' account information and purchase history.
In a statement to various US media outlets on Tuesday (Dec 27), Amazon said it "will not release customer information without a valid and binding legal demand properly served on us".
"Amazon objects to overbroad or otherwise inappropriate demands as a matter of course."
The Amazon Echo, which saw a limited release before it became widely available in the US in June 2015, includes an electronic personal assistant that is able to respond to voice commands from their owners.
It responds to its "wake word", Alexa, and is able to perform tasks such as answering questions, ordering items online and streaming music.
The device is also capable of recording the requests of its users.
While it was unclear what kind of information Bates' Amazon Echo is believed to have contained, CNET published a search warrant affidavit mentioning that the device could have been used to play music on the night of Collins' death.
Bates' lawyer, Kim Weber, told USA TODAY that she was confident her client was innocent and would be proven so, although she expressed concern over setting a precedent for a search warrant involving the Amazon Echo.
She said: "I have a problem that a Christmas gift that is supposed to better your life can be used against you. It's almost like a police state."
