Amazon is citing the First Amendment in a formal legal response to prosecutors asking for possible recordings of an Arkansas murder.
Victor Collins' bruised and cut body was found floating face up in his friend James Andrew Bates' hot tub in November 2015, and detectives learned that music was being streamed at the time of Collins' death. Investigators believe that the music was controlled by an Amazon Echo at the home, and prosecutors think data from the device could shed light on the situation.
The Echo records audio a fraction of a second before hearing a word to wake it up, either "Amazon" or "Alexa," but the device has been known to record audio after misinterpreted commands. Any audio possibly recorded the night Collins died would help in the case, but Amazon said it has to weigh customer privacy in situations like this.
Amazon wrote to the court, "Given the important First Amendment and privacy implications at stake, the warrant should be quashed unless the Court finds that the State has met its heightened burden for compelled production of such materials."
Additionally, they told the Associated Press, "Amazon 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."
Source: BBC
