US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced the payment of compensation totaling $5.6 million to Ring (Amazon) customers. The payments resulted from charges filed by the regulator against Amazon for violation of user confidentiality.
The FTC complaint alleged that Ring deceived its customers by allowing employees and contractors unrestricted access to user videos, using customer videos to train algorithms without consent, and failing to implement necessary security measures. These violations resulted in a serious breach of user confidentiality.
FTC statements indicated that employees and contractors at Ring could freely view personal videos, and inadequate security measures allowed hackers to access customer accounts. This issue affected 55,000 American users, whose cameras not only recorded footage but also transmitted voice messages used to intimidate victims, including threats of harm.
One particularly egregious case involved an employee who viewed thousands of videos belonging to at least 81 women. When a colleague reported this behavior to their boss, initially there was no concern until it became apparent that the employee selected videos to watch based on the appearance of the women.
As a result of these violations, Ring was required to pay $5.6 million to the FTC. The compensation is being distributed to affected customers, with each customer expected to receive about $50. However, this amount does not fully cover the cost of a Ring camera, which starts at $100.
The situation is complex, as Amazon had previously announced in January that it would stop providing police with access to Ring camera footage. However, there are nuances in the decision allowing police to still utilize certain aspects of the technology.