The Facts
On Wednesday, Amazon agreed to settle a US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) complaint for $5.8M over allegations employees improperly accessed footage from its Ring home security cameras. Another $25M will be paid to Alexa customers over alleged violations of children's privacy regulations.
The FTC alleged that employees and third-party contractors had unrestricted access to Ring footage due to a "lax attitude" toward privacy at the home security camera company, which Amazon acquired in 2018.
The Spin
Narrative A
Video doorbells and other web-connected surveillance devices are unmitigated privacy nightmares. They not only collect copious amounts of information about their users and those around them, but their terms and conditions make little reference to privacy laws and allow companies to take complete ownership over all data collected. This settlement was a long time coming, as Amazon's carelessness caused distress to an untold number of customers.
Narrative B
Privacy concerns started well before Amazon acquired Ring, but the company cleaned up the lax Ring culture out of concern for customers. There are inherent privacy risks to video doorbells, which the surging consumer demand for personalized and web-connected devices is evidently willing to accept in return for convenience. However, Amazon boasts a robust privacy and data management regime, which mitigates these risks.