A US regulator claims that Ring employees could be watching thousands of videos of people in their beds and restrooms without their owners’ consent.
According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the company, which is now owned by Amazon, gave workers and third-party contractors unrestricted access to films shot with the cameras.
Without the company’s knowledge, one male customer support employee viewed hundreds of recordings of 81 female consumers, typically for an hour or more every day. According to the regulator, the employee’s behaviour was not stopped until it was found by a coworker.
Ring is most known for its video doorbells, but the company also sells indoor and outdoor security cameras. It began selling its gadgets in the United Kingdom in 2016.
Amazon paid a $5.8 million (£4.7 million) fine to settle the complaint, and the practice has since been discontinued.
The FTC also charged Ring for failing to implement “basic privacy and security safeguards,” allowing hackers to gain control of thousands of accounts and cameras.
According to the regulator, the corporation ignored safety concerns “in the pursuit of rapid product development.” Customers’ videos were accessible to hundreds of contractors headquartered in Ukraine, in addition to workers.
The employee who was reported for downloading thousands of films was eventually fired, and Ring implemented additional security procedures for customer service staff as a result of the incident.
According to the FTC, a second employee proceeded to obtain videos from a female colleague’s camera system. According to the FCC, security concerns will persist until 2020, with the corporation gradually limiting access to recordings.
Ring was established in 2013. The company began selling inside cameras in 2016, the year the FTC found the first privacy infractions, and was acquired by Amazon in 2018.
In 2019, it was revealed that police departments across the United Kingdom were giving away free Ring doorbells to victims of crime in order to catch repeat criminals. Earlier last year, a new trial initiative in East Renfrewshire distributed video doorbells to vulnerable residents who had been scammed.
An Oxford doctor is expected to receive up to £100,000 in 2021 after a judge determined that her neighbor’s smart doorbell camera violated her privacy, paving the way for similar verdicts throughout the UK.
Amazon has also paid a $25 million punishment in connection with charges that it failed to protect minors who used its Alexa voice speakers.
The FTC said that the corporation neglected to remove recordings when parents requested them and stored them for longer than necessary.
“While we disagree with the FTC’s claims regarding both Alexa and Ring and deny violating the law, these settlements put these matters behind us,” Amazon stated.
“Ring addressed the issues at hand on its own years ago, well before the FTC launched its investigation.” Our focus has been and continues to be on providing products and features that our consumers like while adhering to our commitment to preserve their privacy and security.”
