EPIC Tells Washington Supreme Court That Amazon’s Surveillance Capabilities Create Duty to Protect Users From Harmful Products

Last week, EPIC filed an amicus brief with the Washington State Supreme Court arguing that Amazon’s extensive user surveillance and marketplace controls should create legal responsibility to protect users from dangerous products. The brief, authored alongside the law firm Friedman | Rubin PLLP, supports families seeking to hold Amazon liable after their children purchased sodium nitrite through the platform for the purpose of committing suicide. This case represents a critical opportunity to align tech companies’ incentives with public safety. Amazon should not be permitted to use its extensive technological capabilities only for its own gain while disclaiming any responsibility to keep its users safe from egregious, predictable harms. 

The case involves multiple families whose teenage children purchased sodium nitrite—a chemical with no legitimate household use that has become associated with suicide—through Amazon’s marketplace. Worse, Amazon’s recommendation algorithm recommended the children purchase additional products that made their suicides more effective. Amazon had been repeatedly warned by parents, members of Congress, and the media about this danger, but did nothing to prevent it. The families argue that Amazon should be held liable under tort law for facilitating access to dangerous products, particularly for vulnerable minors. But Amazon claims that it has no responsibility to protect its users. 

EPIC’s brief demonstrates how Amazon uses sophisticated algorithms and “dark patterns” to manipulate user behavior through targeted product recommendations, web design choices, and other web design techniques. These same systems, primarily used to drive sales for Amazon’s profit, could be deployed to protect users from harmful products. These systems rely on Amazon’s powerful consumer surveillance apparatus, which collects granular personal data through: 

• Clickstream tracking that monitors every click, scroll, and cursor movement 

• Smart devices like Alexa that capture intimate household data 

• Healthcare subsidiaries like OneMedical that access medical information 

• Third-party data purchases that supplement comprehensive user profiles 

This surveillance allows Amazon to identify vulnerable users and predict their behavior with remarkable precision—capabilities that should create legal responsibility when foreseeable harms occur. 

EPIC also shows that Amazon actively controls which products appear on its platform and can rapidly remove dangerous items when motivated to do so. It has quickly removed thousands of unsafe products when faced with media scrutiny, including items sold to children as young as four years old. The company maintains detailed policies prohibiting dangerous products and claims to investigate safety reports. Even in this case, Amazon only removed sodium nitrite from its product page after lives were lost. 

EPIC is invested in ensuring Amazon has measures to protect its users. This is the second amicus brief EPIC has filed in this case. The brief connects to EPIC’s broader mission of holding tech companies accountable for the consequences of their data collection practices and algorithmic design choices.