Amazon's Ring to pay FTC $5.8 million over privacy violations

Amazon's Ring doorbell portion volition wage the Federal Trade Commission $5.8 cardinal successful a colony implicit privateness violations, according to a filing connected Wednesday.

The bureau filed a lawsuit successful the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia alleging that Ring violated a information of the FTC Act that prohibits unfair oregon deceptive concern practices.

While Ring has claimed its products assistance support customers safer with its doorbell information cameras, the FTC alleged that Ring alternatively comprised lawsuit accusation by giving third-party contractors entree to lawsuit videos, adjacent erstwhile it was unnecessary to execute their jobs.

Ring employees and those who worked for a third-party contractor successful Ukraine could entree and download each customer's videos, with nary method oregon procedural restrictions connected the signifier earlier July 2017, the FTC alleged.

Amazon acquired Ring for a reported $1 cardinal successful 2018 and the institution present operates arsenic a subsidiary of Amazon. The woody has helped Amazon turn its beingness successful the astute location and location information categories. But Ring has besides been a root of large scrutiny for Amazon implicit privateness concerns and its arguable partnerships with constabulary departments.

Ring's information protocols person been criticized previously. In 2020, Ring said it fired 4 employees for peeping into lawsuit video feeds aft reports from The Intercept and The Information found that Ring staffers successful Ukraine were fixed unfettered entree to videos from Ring cameras astir the world.

The institution strengthened its information measures aft a bid of incidents wherein hackers gained entree to a fig of users' cameras. In 1 case, hackers were capable to ticker and pass with an 8-year aged girl. Ring blamed the contented connected users reusing their passwords.

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