Amazon.com Inc.’s Ring unit agreed to pay $5.8 million to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations Wednesday its doorbell cameras spied on users.
According to a complaint filed in federal court in Washington, the FTC alleged that until 2017 Ring gave all its employees and third-party contractors full access to customer video, whether they needed it or not.
The Ring video doorbell, introduced in 2014, is an internet-connected device allowing users to remotely view their doorstep. Amazon bought the company in 2018 for about $1 billion.
The FTC alleged that Amazon didn’t do enough to address the problems after buying the company, with data security issues continuing until 2020.
The company also didn’t take sufficient steps to protect customer accounts, leading hackers to access at least 1,250 devices in the US, the FTC alleged.
Amazon didn’t immediately have a comment on the settlement.
Many of those hacked cameras involved Ring’s products designed for indoor use, allowing strangers to threaten and harass individuals and children in their homes. The FTC’s complaint detailed a number of instances where hackers sexually propositioned women, taunted or uttered racist slurs to children.
In at least 20 cases, hackers maintained access to the cameras for more than a month, the FTC said. Users whose cameras were hacked told Ring they were “terrified” after the episodes.
The company said it fired some employees in 2020 for improperly trying to access customer data and subsequently revamped its security practices, including adding encryption to its video devices.
Household digital devices like Ring can capture conversations, movements, and other information that law enforcement has sought to leverage for investigating crimes. In response, privacy and civil rights advocates have called for limits on police access to such recordings due to concerns around bias and over-policing.
Ring has vowed not to give law enforcement data on its users without a legally valid subpoena or search warrant, depending on what kind of information is being sought or whether it’s an emergency.
After its 2018 acquisition, Ring’s video-connected doorbells and cameras immediately became a centerpiece of Amazon’s growing suite of home electronics, built around the Echo smart speaker and Alexa digital assistant. The company has expanded its domain to home and business security systems, smart lighting, a car dashboard-mounted camera and a yet-to-be-released flying home drone.
In March, Amazon announced that Ring founder Jamie Siminoff was stepping down and would be replaced by Elizabeth Hamren, chief operating officer at chat company Discord Inc.
--With assistance from Matt Day.
(Updates with additional details from complaint starting in fifth paragraph)
