Ring, the popular doorbell camera company owned by Amazon, has reached a privacy settlement resulting in a $5.6 million payout to thousands of its customers.
After facing a lawsuit regarding how Ring handles customer privacy and protects their data, the company has now agreed to a settlement.
To address the privacy concerns surrounding Ring, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) took action.
Ring doorbell customers will be compensated in a $5.6 million privacy settlement
Back in 2023, the FTC accused Ring of permitting employees and contractors to access users' private videos without authorization.
In response, the government agency filed a lawsuit against Ring, which ultimately resulted in the recent settlement.
According to a statement released by the FTC, a total of 117,044 people who had an account with Ring will receive payments as part of the settlement.
The FTC filed a lawsuit against Ring because the company did not sufficiently protect customer accounts.
This led to employees having too much access to customer videos and made the accounts susceptible to online attacks. In some instances, hackers were able to take control of customer accounts, cameras, and videos.
As part of the settlement, Ring is required to provide compensation, delete unauthorized videos, and implement a strong privacy and security program.
Although it is good news that customers affected by privacy issues will receive compensation, not all Ring doorbell users will be eligible for payouts.
The settlement only covers customers who had specific devices like indoor cameras during the timeframes when unauthorized access took place.
Customers who don't meet these criteria will not receive any compensation as part of the settlement.
Due to the large number of potentially affected customers, the individual payouts may not be significant. Each eligible customer is projected to receive around $47.
After the settlement, Ring released a statement to the Associated Press to share their viewpoint.
They explained that toxic individuals acquired emails and passwords from other companies and used them to gain unauthorized access to specific Ring accounts.
Ring promptly responded by notifying the affected customers and implementing measures to safeguard their accounts.
