Amazon’s Ring settles FTC lawsuit for $5.8 million, accused of giving employees & contractors unrestricted access to customer videos.

What are the requirements of the settlement that Ring must comply with in order to avoid similar penalties in the future?

Amazon’s Ring, a home security company owned by Amazon, has settled a lawsuit with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for $5.8 million. The lawsuit alleged that Ring had given its employees and contractors unrestricted access to customer videos.

The FTC alleged that Ring had failed to implement reasonable security measures to protect customer information, including videos recorded by Ring’s home security cameras. The FTC also alleged that Ring had allowed its employees and contractors to access customer videos without their knowledge or consent.

The settlement requires Ring to implement a comprehensive data security program and to obtain independent assessments of its security program every two years for the next 20 years. Ring must also obtain customers’ express consent before allowing employees or contractors to access their videos.

The settlement also requires Ring to pay a $5.8 million civil penalty. The FTC said that the penalty was necessary to deter similar violations in the future.

The settlement is a reminder that companies must take reasonable steps to protect customer data. Companies must ensure that their employees and contractors are not given unrestricted access to customer data, and must obtain customers’ express consent before allowing access to their data. Failure to do so can result in significant penalties.
Amazon-owned smart doorbell company Ring has agreed to settle a lawsuit filed against them by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over privacy and data security concerns. The company will pay $5.8 million to the FTC and implement a new system for data security as part of the settlement. This comes after the FTC alleged that Ring employees and third-party contractors had unrestricted access to customers’ video recordings. rnrnIn one instance, a Ring employee viewed thousands of recordings from at least 81 female Ring camera users between June and August 2017. The FTC further alleged that employees of a third-party contractor in Ukraine also had access to customer footage with little restrictions before July 2017. rnrnIn 2022, a US Senator probe found evidence that Amazon was handing over footage from Ring doorbells to police without consent from the owners of the cameras. Despite this, a Ring spokesperson denied the company violated the law, and told Insider the issues were addressed “years ago.” rnrnAmazon’s vice president of public policy Brian Huseman said in a July 2022 statement that the company will continue to prioritize privacy, security, and user control as they pursue and improve technologies to help achieve their mission of making neighborhoods safer. Read the original article on Business Insider.