Arkansas Police Issue Warrant For Alleged Murderer's Amazon Echo Data

Authorities in Bentonville, Arkansas, issued a warrant for an Amazon Echo device powered by Alexa to see if the gadget has any information linked to a 2015 murder case, according to The Information.

The device belongs to James Andrew Bates, who is on trial for killing his friend Victor Collins. Police want to know if the Echo heard anything that has to do with the murder of Collins, who was found dead in Bates' hot tub. Bentonville issued a warrant for Amazon to release any audio or records from an Echo belonging to Bates.

The company reportedly declined to give authorities data that the Echo device logged on its servers. However, Amazon handed over Bates’ account details and purchases. Officials said they were able to get information off the device, but did not specify what data it was able to access.

In a statement to the IBTimes Amazon said:

"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."

Although the device is activated by certain words, the Echo is always on, and police are after any audio the gadget may have overheard the night of the murder. Apart from the Echo, police said Bates had other smart home gadgets, including a water meter. The meter shows 140 gallons of water were used between 1AM and 3AM the night Collins was found dead in the hot tub.

Amazon’s clash with Arkansas officials comes after Apple’s battle with the FBI earlier this year.

Apple fought for user privacy against the FBI when the agency asked the company to unlock the phone of one of the San Bernardino shooters.

“It’s not about one phone,” Cook told Time magazine in March. “It’s very much about the future. You have a guy in Manhattan saying, ‘I’ve got 175 phones that I want to talk through this process.’”