By Anthony Berrios
Blog Post #7
2/24/20
Do you own one of Amazon’s market grabbing Ring doorbells? Because millions of Americans do, and they may be watching much more than just your front porch. There have been many headlines in the news lately about the device, and they’re rather alarming. Lets start off with the news of four employees being fired over the last four years due to them watching customer’s video feeds from their Ring Doorbell devices. Security researchers were also able to find that Ring’s app contained a hidden code which contained shared customer data with third party marketers. Due to this, this past December, hackers were able to hijack the Ring cameras of multiple families, using the devices to watch their camera feeds and to also verbally assault them in some cases. Another red flag is that Amazon is cooperating with law enforcement agencies to provide footage that could help them in investigations. While this sounds like a good idea, privacy concerns arise from this as well. Amazon simply sends your phone a notification when they are requested by law enforcement to send your footage. This is concerning because most people simply click on or swipe away notifications to get rid of them quickly without paying attention. At the end of the day, Ring users should do research on how to protect themselves further because unfortunately Amazon doesn’t do it enough. And if you currently do not own one and are looking to purchase one, be aware of the potential security risks that are involved.
PC Security & News 