Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Distribution has started More than $5 million in refunds were issued to Amazon Ring customers on Tuesday, as the company reached a settlement with the tech giant over claims that Ring failed to protect consumer privacy.
In a 2023 complaint, the FTC alleged that Ring allowed its employees and contractors to gain unauthorized access to the company’s security camera recordings, potentially endangering the privacy of its customers. Ring allegedly used such footage for purposes such as training algorithms without consent.
The agency called these failures “serious violations of user privacy.”
Amazon, which owns Ring, settled the case last year and agreed to pay $5.6 million in refunds to Ring customers. Separately, the company settled a second privacy violation lawsuit related to its Alexa voice assistant for $25 million.
The FTC announced it will issue refunds via PayPal to more than 115,000 customers who own certain Ring devices, including indoor cameras.
Refund perpetuates public concerns about data privacy for Ring cameras. The company announced in January that it would no longer share videos with law enforcement after criticism from customers.
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