The FTC Called, Consumers Want Their Privacy Back: Amazon Ring allowed Employees to Spy on Customers in Intimate Spaces

The FTC took Amazon Ring to task for compromising people’s privacy by giving employee and contractors unnecessary and unrestricted access to sensitive video information and failing to provide notice or consent for access, and failing to secure its devices from hacks. It was revealed that a single employee had spent several months in 2017 watching thousands of video recordings without consent, including many that occurred in “intimate spaces” of the home. Ring was ordered in 2023 to delete information, models, and algorithms derived from unlawfully viewed videos and implement a privacy and security program with stringent controls.