Amazon revises privacy policy

Amazon.com has become the latest online giant to revise its privacy policy and has announced plans to notify its 23 million customers of the change by email.

The move comes only months after US federal investigators began probing Amazon and Alexa, its internet software subsidiary, for alleged privacy violations. It follows a similar move by Yahoo in July when it redesigned its privacy centre.

Earlier this year, several class action lawsuits were served alleging that Alexa, which provides users with information about the websites they are viewing, secretly intercepted personal data and forwarded it to third parties, including Amazon.

Both Alexa and Amazon have claimed that personal data gathered by the former remains only on the subsidiary's databases.

Amazon's new privacy policy gives details about what personal information the company gathers, why it is collected and how it is used. There are also details on how customers can protect themselves against unauthorised access to their passwords and computers.

Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos said the company wanted its customers to have a clear a picture of what it is and isn't doing with their information.

"In revising our privacy policy we tried to take into consideration not only our current activities but also those things we could imagine possibly happening in the future," he said.

Internet users have become increasingly wary of how their information is being used by websites, and Yahoo recently added a privacy centre to its front page to help explain how its customers' personal information is collected and used. The privacy centre offers additional links to special topics as well as reference and privacy details.