Strangers Watching Ring Security Cameras
But for some who’ve welcomed in Amazon’s Ring security cameras, there have been more than just algorithms watching through the lens, according to sources alarmed by Ring’s dismal privacy practices.
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Despite its mission to keep people and their property secure, the company’s treatment of customer video feeds has been anything but, people familiar with the company’s practices told The Intercept. Beginning in 2016, according to one source, Ring provided its Ukraine-based research and development team virtually unfettered access to a folder on Amazon’s S3 cloud storage service that contained every video created by every Ring camera around the world. This would amount to an enormous list of highly sensitive files that could be easily browsed and viewed. Downloading and sharing these customer video files would have required little more than a click.
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At the same time, the source said, Ring unnecessarily provided executives and engineers in the U.S. with highly privileged access to the company’s technical support video portal, allowing unfiltered, round-the-clock live feeds from some customer cameras, regardless of whether they needed access to this extremely sensitive data to do their jobs.
See also: Nick Heer, MacRumors.
Previously: Nest Cam Waking in the Night.
Yeah I took on board the likely lax security of video stored in the cloud when deciding to get a Ring doorbell as it only records me when coming and going from my home at which point I don't expect privacy as I am already visible to everyone on my street.
Perhaps I am blasé about this as I spent most of my life in London where you are well aware that you are being filmed by CCTV pretty-much everywhere you go outside your home.
I certainly would never let a smart speaker (let alone one with a camera!) inside my home as that is where I expect some semblance of privacy.