NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Do you have a ring camera? You might be getting some money soon. It's part of a multi-million dollar settlement with the federal government.
The Federal Trade Commission is sending refunds to more than 100,000 Ring customers after suing the company for allegedly Failing to Block both Employees and Hackers from Accessing Consumers' Videos.
The FTC in a lawsuit filed last May, accused Ring of failing to implement security protections which not only gave employees and contractors access to consumers’ private videos and but it allowed hackers in some cases to take control of consumers’ accounts, cameras, and videos.
The FTC says this "led to egregious violations of users’ privacy."
The FTC has $5.5 million that it will be sending to consumers whose accounts were not necessarily compromised, but were at least vulnerable. They've identified some 117,000 accounts that are eligible. The federal agency will be sending that money through PayPal.
Also under the settlement, Ring will be required to make sure that going forward security systems are in place to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again.
If you have questions about your payment, you should contact the refund administrator, Rust Consulting, Inc., at 1-833-637-4884, or visit the FTC website at FTC.gov to view frequently asked questions about the refund process.
Something to keep in mind: These sorts of settlements often bring out scammers. So remember, you should never have to pay money or provide account information to get a refund.
Fostering Hope provides Christmas for kids in foster care. I'm delighted to see Fostering Hope expand this year to expand their reach to now include kids in Foster care in metro AND foster kids in East TN hard hit by Helene.
-Bree Smith
