The Federal Trade Commission is refunding more than $5.6 million to customers as part of a deal with Amazon-owned Ring, which was accused of failing to protect private video recordings from unauthorized access.
In a 2023 complaint, the FTC accused the doorbell camera and home security business of allowing staff and contractors to view customers’ private videos. Ring reportedly used the material to develop algorithms without authorization, among other things.
Ring was also charged with failing to install critical security safeguards, allowing hackers to get control of users’ accounts, cameras, and videos. This resulted in “egregious violations of users’ privacy,” according to the FTC.
The ensuing deal ordered Ring to erase content discovered to be accessed illegally, strengthen security safeguards, and pay a substantial fee. The FTC says it is currently spending a large portion of that money to repay qualifying Ring consumers.
According to a notification issued on Tuesday, the FTC is paying 117,044 PayPal payments to impacted individuals who owned certain types of Ring devices, including interior cameras, during the time periods in which the authorities believe improper access occurred.
According to the FTC, eligible customers must redeem these payments within 30 days. Consumers can learn more about the procedure by contacting the refund administrator in this case, Rust Consulting, or visiting the FTC’s FAQ page on refunds.
In a statement to The Associated Press, Ring said that bad actors took emails and passwords that were “stolen from other companies to unlawfully log into Ring accounts of certain customers” who used the same credentials on multiple sites back in 2019. The company promptly addressed this by notifying those it discovered to be “exposed in a third-party, non-Ring incident” and taking action to protect impacted accounts.
Ring did not immediately respond to the FTC’s charges that employees and contractors inappropriately accessed footage.
Earlier this year, the California-based firm stated that it would no longer allow police agencies to request doorbell camera footage from consumers, thus ending a function that had been criticized by privacy groups.
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