The twin settlements Wednesday with the Federal Trade Commission highlight claims that Amazon retained Ring videos and Alexa voice recordings, along with related geolocation information, for years – in some cases without consent and despite requests by consumers for the data to be deleted. In addition, the FTC alleged that lax data policies at Amazon meant that the information could often be accessed by unauthorized parties — and often was, in the case of Ring doorbell footage.
“Through these attacks, bad actors gained access to hundreds of thousands of videos of the personal spaces of consumers’ homes, including their bedrooms and their children’s bedrooms—recorded by devices that Ring sold by claiming that they would increase consumers’ security.” Ring has agreed to pay $5.8 million and implement a new data security program, according to the proposed settlement.