The Amazon-owned Ring home security camera system has developed a “symbiotic” relationship with police, and creates a privacy nightmare for honest citizens by handing over private video footage to law enforcement without much pushback.
Federal prosecutors have charged two men with allegedly taking part in a spree of swatting attacks against over a dozen owners of compromised Amazon Ring home security cameras. The hackers made fake emergency calls, then used the compromised Amazon doorbells to taunt responding police.
Amazon-owned MGM’s “Ring Nation” show hasn’t debuted yet and has already generated controversy from leftist activist groups who believe the series will glorify digital surveillance culture. Now come accusations that the light-hearted show — think America’s “Funniest Home Videos” but based around Amazon Ring security cameras — is racist, with claims that it will harm “black and brown people.”
Amazon reportedly filed a patent recently that suggests its Ring doorbell cameras may soon be able to identify “suspicious” people by scanning their skin texture, walking style, and voice. This represents the latest in Amazon’s growing push into biometric data collection.
350,000 Amazon Ring smart doorbells manufactured in China have been recalled after reports of multiple doorbells catching fire, resulting in eight people suffering burns.
Wired magazine outlines in a recent article concerns about Amazon’s latest intrusive products and why privacy-focused consumers should be wary of them.
A video posted online and reported on by TMZ shows a delivery driver spitting on an Amazon package before delivering it to the recipient’s porch.
A software engineer for e-commerce giant Amazon has called for the immediate shutdown of the company’s Ring security camera business, stating the privacy issues the company has faced are “not fixable.”
Reports have begun flooding in of Amazon Ring camera systems being hacked over the past few days, with the hackers hurling racial abuse at owners, interacting with their children, and even demanding ransom payments.
A new report from security researchers alleges that Amazon Ring doorbells have exposed users’ home Wi-Fi passwords to hackers.
