FTC issuing over $5.6 million in refunds after settlement with security company Ring

After a settlement with with the security camera company Ring, the Federal Trade Commission is sending more than $5.6 million in refunds to over 116,000 Ring customers.

The refunds to Ring customers, which total to more than $5.6 million, come after a settlement with Ring over charges the Amazon-owned company allowed contractors and employees to access private videos and "failed to implement security protections, enabling hackers to take control of consumers’ accounts, cameras and videos," according to a statement issued Tuesday from the FTC.

In total, the FTC is sending 117,044 PayPal payments to customers who had certain types of Ring cameras, including indoor cameras. People received a refund should redeem their PayPal payment within 30 days.

The FTC first brought the complaint forward in May 2023, alleging that Ring failed to restrict access to customer videos from employees and contractors, failed to implement security safeguards and used its customers videos to train algorithms without consent.

In January, Ring said it was sunsetting the Request for Assistance tool, which will no longer allow public safety agencies, like police and fire departments, to request and receive video from users.