Amazon keeps selling the hidden cameras that got it sued

Amazon could be responsible, at least in part, for a man spying on an underage girl with a hidden camera attached to a clothes hook, a US judge ruled less than two weeks ago. You’d think the first thing the retail giant would do is pull any and all such listings – but no.

The original presentation for the camera referred to in the present case no longer onlinebut the BBC found several identical products on Amazon’s UK website. Quartz independently verified at least three entries of the kind on Amazon.co.uk and at least one on Amazon.com. No such results appeared for “clothes hook camera” on Amazon.co.in.

What’s more, the Seattle-based e-commerce titan lets sellers sell many more everyday items that double as hidden cameras, like alarm clocks, wall chargers, USB chargers, car keys, photo framesand smoke alarms. Potential uses in the product descriptions include identifying an intruder, monitoring pets and children, and catching a cheating partner.

A Brief Summary: Amazon’s Clothes Hook Spy Camera Lawsuit

An aspiring actress from Brazil who visited West Virginia as an exchange student in 2021 claims she was secretly filmed by her host, Darrel Wells, with an “embedded pinhole camera” disguised as a “mountable hook” is. According to her, she was a minor at the time March 2023 complaint.

The seller of the camera, identified as John Doe, participated in the Fulfillment by Amazon program even though the product did not have to pass multiple checks and balances, the legal filing claims.

In late March, Amazon filed a motion to dismiss the case. But on Nov. 30, U.S. District Judge Robert Chambers denied his bid, saying Amazon was not just acting as a passive marketplace. Chambers argued that the company actively contributed to the damage by…

🕵️ failed to properly inspect the camera three times, “including an inspection by Amazon’s product safety team tasked with preventing the type of damage alleged here,”

✍️ control over the camera’s product description, “including over the photos that encourage using the camera in a private bathroom as a towel hook” and a graphic with text that reads: “It won’t attract attention,”

📣 and promoting the camera despite knowing that “hidden cameras have been used to spy on individuals in private spaces.”

“Amazon cannot claim surprise when a consumer uses the camera in this way,” Chambers said, paving the way for discovery in the case and possibly even a trial.

Chambers cited several precedents—Snapchat’s speed filter encourage rash driving, Juul targeting minors via “social media, young attractive models, websites and networks frequented by teenagers,” and “directly at school[s]and Soldier of Fortune magazine allows a mercenary to advertise himself – where “when a seller promotes a product that suggests a particular use, harm arising from that proposed use is foreseeable.”

The court also said it did not matter whether there were “legitimate uses” of the product listed alongside the clandestine ones.

The judge dismissed the plaintiff’s claims of negligence, product liability, torts of outrage (intentional infliction of emotional distress), and civil conspiracy, but dismissed a racketeering claim.

Citable: Are All Hidden Cameras Listed On Amazon Illegal?

“I know there can be good reasons why someone deploys a home surveillance camera, but I’m less clear on the appropriate use cases for a stealth camera. At the same time, the court’s analysis may suggest that all stealth cameras are categorically illegal to sell, even when buyers plan to use them perfectly legally. This makes it a dangerous decision for the spy camera industry and for Amazon. At the same time, I’m curious to hear more about what Amazon’s product safety team thought when they evaluated this item.”

-Santa Clara University law professor Eric Goldman in a December 3 blog post about the matter