Ring customers receive refunds from FTC after settling privacy dispute

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced that they will be providing refunds totaling over $5.6 million to consumers following a settlement with Ring. This settlement comes after allegations that the company allowed employees and contractors access to private videos of consumers and failed to implement proper security measures. This negligence resulted in hackers gaining control of consumers’ accounts, cameras, and videos.

Initially brought to light in May 2023, the FTC’s complaint against Ring accuses the company of deceiving customers by not restricting access to customer videos by employees and contractors, using these videos for algorithm training without consent, and lacking proper security measures.

As part of the settlement, the FTC will be distributing 117,044 PayPal payments to consumers who owned certain Ring devices, such as indoor cameras, during the periods in which unauthorized users may have accessed customer videos.