What just happened? Amazon faces a class action lawsuit alleging it secretly collected and sold sensitive location data from millions of California residents through its Amazon Ads software development kit. The case highlights growing concerns over data privacy and the use of SDKs in mobile applications. The lawsuit filed in US District Court this week by Felix Kolotinsky of San Mateo, California, claims Amazon obtained "backdoor access" to consumers' devices by distributing the Amazon Ads SDK to thousands of mobile app developers, who then embedded it in their applications. The software allegedly allowed Amazon to harvest vast amounts of timestamped geolocation data without users' knowledge or consent. Kolotinsky claims Amazon accessed his personal data through the "Speedtest by Ookla" app.The complaint alleges the collected data reveals where consumers live, work, shop, and visit, potentially exposing sensitive information such as religious affiliations, sexual orientations, and medical conditions. The lawsuit also contends that Amazon used this data to create detailed profiles of consumers for advertising purposes. These actions violate California's penal code and state laws against unauthorized computer access.The case aligns with similar legal actions against other tech companies and data brokers regarding geolocation data usage and SDKs.Last month, Texas sued insurance provider Allstate for allegedly tracking drivers through cell phones via SDKs. The company used the data when setting insurance premiums and sold the information to other insurers. Another class action lawsuit in 2024 alleged that Twilio's SDK violated multiple statutes by secretly collecting sensitive data from consumers.It's also not the first time Amazon customers have complained about privacy violations. In 2020, it fired several employees for sharing sensitive customer data with third parties, including email addresses and phone numbers. // Related StoriesIn June 2023, the company agreed to pay $31 million in penalties to settle privacy violations related to its Alexa voice assistant and Ring doorbell cameras. The lawsuit accused the company of keeping children's voice recordings indefinitely and using them to improve its Alexa algorithm, which violates the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act.Amazon has not responded to these latest allegations. The lawsuit, Kolotinsky v. Amazon.com Inc., seeks damages for millions of California residents and injunctive relief to halt the illegal data collection.