Ephemeral Messaging at Amazon Raises Legal Eyebrows
In a recent legal development, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has submitted a filing suggesting top executives at Amazon, including Jeff Bezos and Andy Jassy, may have used the encrypted messaging app Signal to discuss sensitive topics. The FTC’s concern is that the app’s feature that allows messages to disappear could have led to the destruction of evidence pertinent to the agency’s ongoing antitrust investigation.
Amazon has been under scrutiny for what the FTC calls “Project Nessie,” an alleged secret pricing algorithm that could have contributed to over billion in profits. The filing highlighted how Amazon’s leadership engaged in conversations on Signal, even enabling the disappearing messages feature, raising questions about the preservation of evidence.
The issue of using encrypted messaging apps is not isolated to Amazon. The Washington Post has reported other corporations facing similar accusations. In legal arenas, such practices have come under fire; for example, during Sam Bankman-Fried’s trial for fraud and Google’s lawsuit with Epic Games, the use of Signal and the deletion of chats became points of contention.
Documentation included in the FTC’s filing captures a Signal chat between two Amazon executives activating the disappearing messages feature, which could suggest an intent to keep their discussions private.
The FTC’s attorneys have identified several Amazon executives as Signal users. The emphasis on Jeff Bezos as a “heavy Signal user” might be attributed in part to a past security breach involving his personal cellphone. However, the FTC argues that Amazon’s failure to direct employees to save messages until over a year into the investigation likely resulted in the loss of relevant information.
Currently, the FTC is pushing for discovery into Amazon’s efforts, or lack thereof, to preserve documents, which could reveal the extent of information potentially destroyed. Amazon has been accused of withholding significant amounts of requested documentation regarding the advice given to employees about ephemeral messaging apps. The outcome of this legal challenge could lead to sanctions against Amazon, especially if the court concludes that any failure to preserve evidence was intentional.
