FTC Scrutinizes Amazon Executives’ Use of Encrypted Messaging
In a recent court filing, the Federal Trade Commission has raised concerns about Amazon’s top brass, including its founder Jeff Bezos and current CEO Andy Jassy, over their use of the encrypted Signal messaging app. This communication choice is under scrutiny because of the alleged deletion of messages that may have been pertinent to the FTC’s antitrust investigation into the e-commerce behemoth.
The filing highlights that from April 2019 to May 2022, senior Amazon leaders actively utilized Signal’s disappearing message feature. Notably, this practice continued unabated even amid the FTC’s probe into the company’s operations.
The FTC voiced its apprehensions stating, “Amazon executives deleted many Signal messages during Plaintiffs’ pre-Complaint investigation, and Amazon did not instruct employees to preserve Signal messages until over fifteen months after Amazon knew that Plaintiffs’ investigation was underway.”
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images
Key figures such as Bezos and Amazon’s chief legal officer David Zapolsky were specifically named for their engagement with the ephemeral messaging platform.
In a broader context, the filing forms a segment of an extensive antitrust lawsuit initiated in September by the FTC against Amazon. The agency claimed that Amazon was unlawfully sustaining a monopoly by engaging in anti-competitive behavior.
Amazon has countered this accusation, suggesting that any repercussions from the lawsuit could inadvertently harm consumers with increased prices and negatively impact independent sellers on its marketplace.
The FTC’s recent legal motion seeks additional details on the directives provided by Amazon’s leadership regarding the use of Signal. The commission is especially interested in understanding the guidelines for the app’s use and any specific instructions related to the deletion of messages.
Amazon spokesperson Tim Doyle has dismissed the FTC’s allegations as “baseless.” In defense, Doyle stated that Amazon had been transparent about its use of Signal, having notified the FTC several years prior. He underscored that despite the focus on Signal, the FTC had access to an exhaustive array of documents and data, including 1.7 million documents and over 100 terabytes of information from various sources such as emails, internal messaging apps, and laptops.
