Amazon Reaches $30.8 Million Settlement in FTC Complaints Over Ring Doorbell Surveillance, Use of Children’s Voice Recordings
Amazon has agreed to pay the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) $30.8 million to settle claims that it allowed employees and third-party contractors of its Ring video camera doorbell unit to surveil customers in their homes and illegally retained children’s voice recordings through its Alexa app.
According to an FTC press release, Amazon’s Ring doorbell company was charged with compromising its customers’ privacy by allowing employees and third-party contractors, including some based in Ukraine, to access consumers’ private videos, and use the videos to train algorithms without their consent. It buried information claiming it had a right to use such recordings for “product improvement and development” in its Terms of Service and Privacy Policy….