Ring Employees Spied on Customers Using Doorbell Cameras, FTC Says

The popularity of Ring doorbell cameras has skyrocketed over the past several years.

The doorbells are a fairly affordable way to keep a close eye on your property and people coming and going from your address. Fun 107 morning show producer Gazelle and I use Ring cameras all the time. Gazelle has caught a lot of interesting video on his in New Bedford.

You may want to think twice, however, about how you look or what you say around those Ring devices. You never know who may be watching on the other end.

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While the allure of Ring doorbells is to heighten a sense of security at our homes, the place in the world that matters to us most, it has been revealed that some Ring cameras were used to violate the privacy of their customers.

In an email to their customers on Wednesday, Ring said the Federal Trade Commission believes a "limited number of employees viewed customers' videos without their permission and without a business reason." Those Ring employees, according to the email, are no longer with the company.

Ring also disclosed that back in June 2023, the company "entered into a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission to resolve the FTC’s allegations that more employees and contractors than necessary had access to the stored videos collected by Ring cameras."

Over the past five years, Ring says it has significantly changed its access and review practices.

"Now, only a very small number of employees can access videos, and only in very limited circumstances," the company said.

Hopefully, Ring's incident can be a learning moment for other home security camera companies. When you are dealing with the trust of your customer base, giving access to people's home video cameras is a seriousresponsibility.