July 9, 2025 • 8 mins
Jeremy Rosenthal on the class action lawsuit against Amazon, and a dangerous new social media trend
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Okay at eight thirty nine over on the Legacy Retirement
Group dot com phone line. He is our man in Texas,
Texas Defensefirm dot com. He was a prosecutor before becoming
a defense attorney. He not only knows how to put
cases together, but he knows how to tear them apart.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
He is Jeremy Rosenthal.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
And before we get started, Jeremy serious note, we've been
spending way too much time this week talking about your state,
and not in a good way. Just our thoughts and
prayers to the folks in Central Texas there.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Well, yes, yeah, and I'm in North Texas. I'm a
couple hours away where a real I have friends, I
have colleagues, I have classmates were down there who are
directly affected, and certainly I'll communicate that to them. And
I know it takes a village, right And this if
the videos I've seen on my Facebook feed or if
(00:54):
those are accurate, then it's it's horrifying.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
I was just going to say, horrifying is the word
that comes to mind.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
It really is. Well, yeah, please please pass along all
the good wishes from Central Ohio. Please when you get
a chance, one of these stories that well, we got
two I wanted to coverage today, and that's this class
action lawsuit against Amazon and the privacy of Alexa users.
Is it a big shock to anybody that when you
put a microphone and a speaker in your house that
(01:22):
it's going to be listening to everything you say?
Speaker 3 (01:26):
Well, yeah, because I believe everything that Amazon tells me,
and they would only use the power that they have
for good. Do you think that they would try to profit?
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Never? Okay? Never? All right? So what's the story on
this case? Right?
Speaker 3 (01:40):
It's a class action lawsuit. It actually was started in
twenty twenty one, so it's taken them a long time
to get certified as a class probably a lot of discovery,
meaning information getting passed back and forth. We still don't
have a really good window. It's going to be proprietary, right,
How the wake word works, how it triggers, how long
(02:04):
it records, what happens if you say the word on accident,
if you are unfortunate enough to have a somebody in
your family named al e Xa? Because mine is right,
not mine's listening right now to us. But so we
don't know a lot of those questions. But apparently we
have enough answers to know that it's doing a little
(02:26):
more than it ought to. And that's how class actions work.
You have a corporation, a big, a big tech giant
that is paper cutting the consumers. It doesn't make sense
for any one consumer to really take them to court.
But collectively, if you get twenty million plaintiffs, all of
(02:48):
whom get a seventeen dollars check, that's real money.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
It's funny you said you kind of broke it down
on how the Alexa works, and I'm sorry I just
said it.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
I'd probably triggered everybody everywhere.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
But it's in order for there to be a wake word,
it has to always be listening for that word. So
your device just doesn't come on when you say the word.
It's always listening to you. It's just waiting to hear
that word. And the allegations were that it was deceptively
recording and collecting private conversations.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
Right, that's the question is when does it listen and
when does it shut off? And when does it notice
shut off and does it purge that data or does
it just sit here and say wait, no, no, no no,
we're about to get aunt Betty's secret recipe. Let's hold
on for just a minute.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
We need this.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
So yeah, when does it cut off and when does
it do that? Fortunately, again, going back to the law
that was utilized in this case by the planet is
this Washington State is where this lawsuit originated. That law
says that you are harmed as a matter of law
if your privacy has been invaded. You don't have to
(03:57):
go to court to show that you lost money. You
don't have to go and show that you that that
something was taken from you, your your your your privacy
was taken from you. And that's that's that's that's that's
how the courts come in and equalize it.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Now, if you're a lawyer for Amazon, wouldn't you argue
that by bringing this device into your home, you have
basically signed off on any reasonable expectation of privacy. You're
putting a microphone device into your home. That is a
choice you made and you knew what this entailed. So
(04:34):
I'll bets are off at that point.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
That that's a really good jury argument, And that's how
I would That's what I would say to to if
I was arguing to twelve people on it. The statutes,
the laws, the federal laws, and the state laws kind
of tighten it up a little more than that. So
so you can't necessarily say you can't really make that
direct argument, at least as far as the law goes,
(04:59):
because the State of Washington and the federal law in
Federal Consumer Protection say no, we Amazon, you have to this.
This product has to do one, two, three, four, and
it has to shut off in this manner. So there
are some restrictions on what they can do. But yes,
I think again, if we're arguing this to a jury,
(05:21):
I think a lot of jurors kind of think, well,
you know what it listens to me, I don't care.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Yeah, well that's it is. If you don't care if
what you say. You know, we have one of those devices.
My kid has one in his bedroom, and I have
one in the garage. I listened to this radio station
or music on, but I'm not having highly sensitive conversations
with my wife in the garage about finances or anything else.
So you know, it can hear me cuts and swear
when I can't get my lawnmower started. That's not a
(05:46):
big deal to me, right, and that's where I use that.
So it's going to be interesting to see this one
play out. Speaking with Jeremy Rosenthal, Texas defense firm dot com.
The other one is a social media man. I'm telling
you what it is. Just become so tox. Take this
trend that has kids going up to people's doors, like
in the middle of the night and kicking them and
(06:07):
kicking them. It's like strangers. Don't kicking them open. It's
some sort of new challenge, and that's gonna get somebody killed.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
Jeremy, this is a great idea, but you don't understand.
If you go in the middle of the night at
two in the morning and you video you self your
If you video yourself just kicking the ever living whatever
out of a door to where it to where it,
you know, wakes everybody up in the house. Just think
how many clicks and likes you'll get.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Unbelievable, unbelievable.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
Yeah, don't I mean, it's awesome, isn't it. I mean,
don't worry. Just just just just just just pray that
the guy's not a Second Amendment guy.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
And and also that guy gets to make a TikTok
also because he gets to make a TikTok of the
ring cam. Uh. That that that that you're showing up
on but yeah, it's a great way to get shot.
It's a great way to get a criminal trespass charge.
It's a great way to get a uh uh a
vandalism charge if you cause any damage. So yeah, this
is probably not the brightest idea.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
You know, back in our day, we would go and
you know, do what we call ding dong ditch, where
you just go up to somebody's house, you ring the doorbell,
and you run. Ha ha funny, funny we disrupted your
night or whatever. But that's way different than kicking someone's
door at two or three in the morning to the
point where the door comes down, Because yeah, now you're
gonna have an upset homeowner who at worst just calls
(07:26):
the police, or at best just calls the police at worst,
as you say, is a two a guy and comes
down and wants to you know, take care of business
right then and there.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
Right, Yeah, nothing good comes from this. And you know,
I know you haven't done ding dong ditch and probably
it's probably been.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Months, right, not since twenty twenty four?
Speaker 3 (07:48):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, And then what's the one where you
like the like the dog poop? What's that one?
Speaker 2 (07:53):
You know?
Speaker 3 (07:54):
And you you know, I mean, yeah, so maybe we're
just more creative in Texas.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
I don't know. You were one of those kids. I
know on Halloween you lit the bag of dog poop
on fire. I know you did. I know you were
that guy. Great stuff as always. Man. Good to hear
your voice. I'm glad you're doing well. Jr.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Jeremy Rosenthal, Texas Defense Firm dot com.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
Have a great rest of your week, buddy,
Okay at eight thirty nine over on the Legacy Retirement
Group dot com phone line. He is our man in Texas,
Texas Defensefirm dot com. He was a prosecutor before becoming
a defense attorney. He not only knows how to put
cases together, but he knows how to tear them apart.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
He is Jeremy Rosenthal.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
And before we get started, Jeremy serious note, we've been
spending way too much time this week talking about your state,
and not in a good way. Just our thoughts and
prayers to the folks in Central Texas there.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Well, yes, yeah, and I'm in North Texas. I'm a
couple hours away where a real I have friends, I
have colleagues, I have classmates were down there who are
directly affected, and certainly I'll communicate that to them. And
I know it takes a village, right And this if
the videos I've seen on my Facebook feed or if
(00:54):
those are accurate, then it's it's horrifying.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
I was just going to say, horrifying is the word
that comes to mind.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
It really is. Well, yeah, please please pass along all
the good wishes from Central Ohio. Please when you get
a chance, one of these stories that well, we got
two I wanted to coverage today, and that's this class
action lawsuit against Amazon and the privacy of Alexa users.
Is it a big shock to anybody that when you
put a microphone and a speaker in your house that
(01:22):
it's going to be listening to everything you say?
Speaker 3 (01:26):
Well, yeah, because I believe everything that Amazon tells me,
and they would only use the power that they have
for good. Do you think that they would try to profit?
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Never? Okay? Never? All right? So what's the story on
this case? Right?
Speaker 3 (01:40):
It's a class action lawsuit. It actually was started in
twenty twenty one, so it's taken them a long time
to get certified as a class probably a lot of discovery,
meaning information getting passed back and forth. We still don't
have a really good window. It's going to be proprietary, right,
How the wake word works, how it triggers, how long
(02:04):
it records, what happens if you say the word on accident,
if you are unfortunate enough to have a somebody in
your family named al e Xa? Because mine is right,
not mine's listening right now to us. But so we
don't know a lot of those questions. But apparently we
have enough answers to know that it's doing a little
(02:26):
more than it ought to. And that's how class actions work.
You have a corporation, a big, a big tech giant
that is paper cutting the consumers. It doesn't make sense
for any one consumer to really take them to court.
But collectively, if you get twenty million plaintiffs, all of
(02:48):
whom get a seventeen dollars check, that's real money.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
It's funny you said you kind of broke it down
on how the Alexa works, and I'm sorry I just
said it.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
I'd probably triggered everybody everywhere.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
But it's in order for there to be a wake word,
it has to always be listening for that word. So
your device just doesn't come on when you say the word.
It's always listening to you. It's just waiting to hear
that word. And the allegations were that it was deceptively
recording and collecting private conversations.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
Right, that's the question is when does it listen and
when does it shut off? And when does it notice
shut off and does it purge that data or does
it just sit here and say wait, no, no, no no,
we're about to get aunt Betty's secret recipe. Let's hold
on for just a minute.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
We need this.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
So yeah, when does it cut off and when does
it do that? Fortunately, again, going back to the law
that was utilized in this case by the planet is
this Washington State is where this lawsuit originated. That law
says that you are harmed as a matter of law
if your privacy has been invaded. You don't have to
(03:57):
go to court to show that you lost money. You
don't have to go and show that you that that
something was taken from you, your your your your privacy
was taken from you. And that's that's that's that's that's
how the courts come in and equalize it.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Now, if you're a lawyer for Amazon, wouldn't you argue
that by bringing this device into your home, you have
basically signed off on any reasonable expectation of privacy. You're
putting a microphone device into your home. That is a
choice you made and you knew what this entailed. So
(04:34):
I'll bets are off at that point.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
That that's a really good jury argument, And that's how
I would That's what I would say to to if
I was arguing to twelve people on it. The statutes,
the laws, the federal laws, and the state laws kind
of tighten it up a little more than that. So
so you can't necessarily say you can't really make that
direct argument, at least as far as the law goes,
(04:59):
because the State of Washington and the federal law in
Federal Consumer Protection say no, we Amazon, you have to this.
This product has to do one, two, three, four, and
it has to shut off in this manner. So there
are some restrictions on what they can do. But yes,
I think again, if we're arguing this to a jury,
(05:21):
I think a lot of jurors kind of think, well,
you know what it listens to me, I don't care.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Yeah, well that's it is. If you don't care if
what you say. You know, we have one of those devices.
My kid has one in his bedroom, and I have
one in the garage. I listened to this radio station
or music on, but I'm not having highly sensitive conversations
with my wife in the garage about finances or anything else.
So you know, it can hear me cuts and swear
when I can't get my lawnmower started. That's not a
(05:46):
big deal to me, right, and that's where I use that.
So it's going to be interesting to see this one
play out. Speaking with Jeremy Rosenthal, Texas defense firm dot com.
The other one is a social media man. I'm telling
you what it is. Just become so tox. Take this
trend that has kids going up to people's doors, like
in the middle of the night and kicking them and
(06:07):
kicking them. It's like strangers. Don't kicking them open. It's
some sort of new challenge, and that's gonna get somebody killed.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
Jeremy, this is a great idea, but you don't understand.
If you go in the middle of the night at
two in the morning and you video you self your
If you video yourself just kicking the ever living whatever
out of a door to where it to where it,
you know, wakes everybody up in the house. Just think
how many clicks and likes you'll get.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Unbelievable, unbelievable.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
Yeah, don't I mean, it's awesome, isn't it. I mean,
don't worry. Just just just just just just pray that
the guy's not a Second Amendment guy.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
And and also that guy gets to make a TikTok
also because he gets to make a TikTok of the
ring cam. Uh. That that that that you're showing up
on but yeah, it's a great way to get shot.
It's a great way to get a criminal trespass charge.
It's a great way to get a uh uh a
vandalism charge if you cause any damage. So yeah, this
is probably not the brightest idea.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
You know, back in our day, we would go and
you know, do what we call ding dong ditch, where
you just go up to somebody's house, you ring the doorbell,
and you run. Ha ha funny, funny we disrupted your
night or whatever. But that's way different than kicking someone's
door at two or three in the morning to the
point where the door comes down, Because yeah, now you're
gonna have an upset homeowner who at worst just calls
(07:26):
the police, or at best just calls the police at worst,
as you say, is a two a guy and comes
down and wants to you know, take care of business
right then and there.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
Right, Yeah, nothing good comes from this. And you know,
I know you haven't done ding dong ditch and probably
it's probably been.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Months, right, not since twenty twenty four?
Speaker 3 (07:48):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, And then what's the one where you
like the like the dog poop? What's that one?
Speaker 2 (07:53):
You know?
Speaker 3 (07:54):
And you you know, I mean, yeah, so maybe we're
just more creative in Texas.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
I don't know. You were one of those kids. I
know on Halloween you lit the bag of dog poop
on fire. I know you did. I know you were
that guy. Great stuff as always. Man. Good to hear
your voice. I'm glad you're doing well. Jr.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Jeremy Rosenthal, Texas Defense Firm dot com.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
Have a great rest of your week, buddy,
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.