Amazon Ring owners will soon receive $5.6 million worth of refunds from the Amazon consumer privacy lawsuit settlement, according to the Federal Trade Commission.
The FTC reported on Tuesday that it has begun sending out the 117,044 PayPal payments to affected Ring customers, primarily those with indoor cameras.
(Photo : Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Eligible customers are advised to retrieve their refunds within 30 days. Inquiries can be directed to the FTC's employed refund administrator, Rust Consulting, at 1-833-637-4884.
The lawsuit stems from a 2023 complaint alleging that the video doorbells are allowing Amazon employees and third-party contractors access recordings of children to train its algorithm, which only came to light after a data breach in 2019.
This is the second settlement Amazon has agreed to pay during last year's child data privacy trials, of which the retail giant had to pay $25 million to settle similar federal charges for its Alexa voice assistant.
The payments are in addition to the company's promise to delete all related content from its archives and "establish stronger security protections."
Also Read: Amazon To Pay $25M Settlement for FTC Spying Suit
FTC Cracks Down on Amazon's Security Practices
The refunds mark the FTC's efforts in cracking down concerns about Amazon's security and data safety practices in an unprecedented move since the platform first emerged during the heydays of the internet.
The commission is currently holding various investigations on the e-commerce giant, including antitrust violations and cybersecurity concerns.
Most of the probes started during the tail end of former President Donald Trump's administration following the decision to crack down on tech giants like Google, Meta, and Apple.
Compromised Video Doorbells Still Being Sold on Amazon
While Amazon has been making its promise to improve the security services of its Ring video doorbells, the same cannot be said for other security devices sold on its platform.
Research from digital products watchdog Consumer Reports alleged that Amazon of advertising video doorbells prone to hacking.
The report claimed that hackers and threat actors can easily access footage and records from other people's doorbells due to security vulnerabilities in its management app.
It does not help that many of the detected video doorbells lack authorization mark from the FTC, essentially making the products illegal to be sold in the US.
As of writing, Amazon has removed the approval seal on the products and pulled many more from its digital store.
Related Article: Amazon, Temu are Selling Hack Prone Video Doorbells, Researchers Say
