Amazon’s Ring home security and smart home company fired multiple employees after it came to light they had been viewing customer videos. Amazon acquired Ring in early 2018 in a bid to instantly add to its connected home portfolio. However, the company has come under fire recently for the way in which it handles customer data.
To many, Ring is more likely to be known as a video doorbell company. Ring offers a number of solutions to add a camera to the front door, including video doorbells where the user can view who’s at the door, monitoring packages, and so on. More recently, the company has expanded its product line to include devices to be used inside the home. Again, these are devices that are also equipped with cameras and can monitor what everyone at home is doing. That is, they can be monitored by the customers, and in some cases, by company employees.
Obtained by Motherboard, a letter sent to U.S. Senators by Amazon reveals a number of employees were fired for accessing video data beyond “what was necessary for their job functions.” The letter explains that over the last four years the company had received four complaints regarding employees accessing video data and following an investigation at least one employee was fired in each case. To try and limit the chances of this happening in the future, Amazon states it has since implemented measures to ensure video data is only accessible to “a smaller number of team members” than before. The letter also vigorously defends the company’s approach to customer data handling.
Just The Latest Ring Data Controversy
This is not the first, or even the only recent time, Ring has received criticism for the way it handles customer data. Most notably, Ring was recently accused of making its cloud-based camera services too easy to hack. For example, in recent testing Ring’s security measures were found to be less than desirable and even lacking in some of the most basic security features designed to protect user privacy. Adding to this, there’s been the highly-reported on instance of a stranger initiating a conversation with a child through a Ring camera located in the child’s bedroom, as well as an incident where login and password information of thousands of Ring users were possibly compromised. The last issue prompted the company to advise users to change their passwords and make use of two-factor authentication going forward.
While Ring is not the only company to recently find itself on the questioning end of how it handles customer data, due to its backing from Amazon it has the potential to reach a serious number of homes in the U.S., making it one that will instantly draw attention each time a data issue arises. Amazon often bundles its Ring products with its other hardware solutions at a discounted cost, while also offering greater compatibility with its own smart home products, including Alexa. Making it all the more likely that those already invested in the Amazon ecosystem will opt for a Ring product over the competition. Amazon aside, this further feeds into the much wider issue of whether tech companies in general are doing enough to protect their customers’ privacy and that’s a question that goes well beyond Amazon and Ring, and even the U.S.
Source: Motherboard