The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is gearing up to distribute $5.8 million in refunds to roughly 55,000 Ring customers affected by the company’s privacy lapses.
The FTC told Newsweek on Wednesday that it expects to begin issuing payments “by mid-2024 to consumers injured by Ring’s practices—the hackers’ victims and consumers who used cameras inside the home where they were exposed to spying.”
What Happened to Ring?
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The refund is part of the resolution of a case settled by Ring with the FTC in May where the Amazon-owned company was accused of failing to protect its customers’ privacy adequately. According to court documents, between January 2019 and March 2020, more than 55,000 U.S. customers suffered from credential stuffing and brute force attacks, compromising their Ring devices due to the company’s security oversights.
The crux of the FTC’s complaint was that Ring’s doorbells and security systems were used to spy on users, violating their privacy. Ring was accused of allowing employees and contractors unfettered access to customer videos, which were then used to train algorithms without the consent of the users.
Samuel Levine, the director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a May statement that Ring’s actions led to consumers being subjected to spying and harassment, and criticized the company for prioritizing profit over privacy. As part of the settlement, the FTC mandated Ring to delete all data and algorithms derived from the unlawfully accessed videos.
Additionally, Ring was required to establish a new privacy and security program that limits employee access to customer videos, with exceptions primarily in law enforcement situations.
Ring, while acknowledging the settlement in May, provided a different perspective. The company said that it takes customer privacy and security seriously and suggested that the FTC’s complaint drew on outdated issues that had been addressed well before the FTC’s inquiry.
The company argued that the FTC mischaracterized its security practices and overlooked the numerous protections in place for customers, despite agreeing to the $5.8 million settlement.
Newsweek has reached out to Ring via email regarding the exact amount of customers affected.
According to a 2022 report, Ring doorbells are fixed on more than 10 million homes in the U.S.
If you were affected by the case, here’s how FTC refunds work.
In most FTC cases, consumers are not required to file a claim for refunds. Instead, court orders typically compel the defendant, in this case, Ring, to provide a comprehensive list of affected customers, including their contact information and the amounts they paid. The FTC uses that information to directly issue refunds to the customers.
However, in situations where the information is incomplete or unavailable, the FTC may resort to a claims process to identify eligible refund recipients.
Given the $5.8 million settlement that will be used for customer refunds and the estimated 55,000 customers affected, basic calculation would mean that each affected Ring customer could receive approximately $105.45 at some point in mid-2024.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.