The Ring doorbell Android app has been accused of being packed full of third-party trackers and invading privacy by sending personal info to a variety of companies. This is just the latest in a laundry list of Ring reports surrounding the way the company handles personal user data.
In spite of the Amazon-owned company proving to be a popular option for consumers looking for smart home products, Ring has been on the receiving end of a barrage of reports recently suggesting how it handles customer data is a concern. In the past couple of months alone, reports have surfaced indicating that the home addresses of users has made their way to the dark web, and that a number of Ring employees has been fired in recent years for watching customer videos. Of course, then there was the more high-profile issue where a stranger was able to initiate a conversation with a child in their bedroom through a Ring camera. Adding to the list, a new report now details the Android app is apparently monitoring customers.
Following an investigation, the Electronic Frontier Foundation found the company’s “Ring - Always Home” Android app to be full of trackers and sending out a "plethora of customers’ personally identifiable information” to multiple third-party companies. Included in that company list were Facebook and Google, with the personally identifiable information said to include names, private IP addresses, mobile network carriers, persistent identifiers, and more. The EFF goes on to suggest the amount of shared data could be used along with the other data these companies hold to put-together a fuller picture of a user, and that all of this is occurring without the consent of users.
Is Ring As Big Of A Threat As Some Are Making Out?
If you are to believe the constant stream of Ring reports, then the company is one that should be immediately shut down considering it is apparently incapable of protecting user data for any amount of time. In fact, adding to the anti-Ring chorus is Max Eliaser, an Amazon employee who has actually called on Ring to be “shut down immediately” after stating that the company's procedures are “not compatible with a free society” and that the “privacy issues are not fixable.” Again, if all of these reports are true, than Ring appears to be a real danger.
However, it remains to be seen if Ring is any more of a danger than most other companies. What has been happening of late is that any report on Ring has gained widespread attention – and while they are not flattering reports of the company, Ring is not the only one who appears to be treating customer data without medical gloves. Facebook itself has come under extreme scrutiny recently due to the way it handles data, as has Google, and Microsoft, and even your favorite dating apps. It's to the point where the issue is far greater than any one company – even if that company is Ring. Which raises the much bigger question of how are consumers ever supposed to trust the devices they are being sold for the home when their data and privacy appears to be constantly sold or used elsewhere?
Source: EFF