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"Given the complexity and magnitude of these issues," the "serious

Aug. 25, 2018 by Elizabeth Duran

"Given the complexity and magnitude of these issues," the "serious concerns" include "how Amazon operates, the extent to which its products are intended to be used, and the lack of transparency on the subject of privacy and information technology," the letter says.

The senators told Amazon they were concerned about the company's reliance on software that relies on facial-recognition and other technologies for its products and that their concerns could not be addressed by Amazon. The company said that it had done nothing wrong and that its technology was safe but warned that users would be affected by the issue.

But the company is not the only one that is making its money off the use of facial-recognition technology.

The Federal Trade Commission, which regulates many kinds of privacy and security practices, this month fined companies like Google for using facial-recognition technology to identify people. The FTC found that companies like Apple and Facebook have violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act by creating profiles, or other information that are used to identify individuals in connection with criminal investigations.

"This is not just the latest example of the FTC's own bias against the privacy rights of its customers," Jeff Karpeles, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement. "The FTC's new guidelines, which are based on the agency's own findings, require that companies provide user-generated information that is of a high priority for the FTC and, as a result, be required to disclose that information to third parties."

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In response, the FTC said it would review the guidelines to determine what information it considers appropriate to disclose.

The companies did not appear in any court filings since they lost.

The FTC has not yet responded to a request for comment. Amazon declined to comment.

On the issue of its use of facial-recognition technology for its products, the FTC said, "We do not believe that Amazon's use of its facial recognition technology for its products is consistent with the FTC's intent to protect consumers' privacy."

A recent court ruling in Japan, however, struck down a similar rule, which said, in part, that companies can't "unreasonably require" specific information about users to help them fight criminal cases. The ruling also said that companies can only ask for specific information when it is needed to respond in court.

In a statement Wednesday, Amazon said that it would comply with the ruling.