Penalty Amount
$5,800,000
Consumers Affected
55,000
The FTC charged Ring LLC with allowing employees to access private customer videos without consent and failing to secure user accounts, leading to hackers controlling cameras. Under a proposed consent order, Ring must pay $5.8 million in refunds, delete unlawfully accessed data, and implement a privacy and security program.
Ring must pay $5.8 million for consumer refunds, delete all customer videos and derived data from before 2018, implement a privacy and security program with safeguards on human video review and multi-factor authentication, report unauthorized access incidents to the FTC, notify consumers about the action, and is prohibited from profiting from unlawfully accessed videos.
In-house legal teams should review all vendor, customer, and data processing agreements involving Ring or similar IoT/security camera providers. Focus on clauses governing data access rights (especially employee/contractor access), security obligations (encryption, authentication), audit rights, data retention/deletion, and breach notification. Required changes may include: adding mandatory multi-factor authentication for all account access, restricting human video review to legitimate business purposes with audit logs, requiring prompt deletion of unlawfully accessed data, implementing data minimization principles, and ensuring refund mechanisms for harmed consumers. Employee agreements should also be updated to reflect new privacy safeguards.
Entity
Ring LLC
Also known as: Ring
Industry
TechnologyOfficial Press Release
https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2023/05/ftc-says-ring-employees-illegally-surveilled-customers-failed-stop-hackers-taking-control-users
proposed stipulated order ring
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/proposed_stipulated_order_ring.pdf
complaint ring
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/complaint_ring.pdf
Federal Trade Commission Enforcement Page
https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement
"Ring LLC"
"$5.8 million"
"allowing any employee or contractor to access consumers’ private videos and by failing to implement basic privacy and security protections, enabling hackers to take control of consumers’ accounts, cameras, and videos."
$750K
The FTC finalized an order against Vanilla Chip LLC (doing business as TruHeight) and its principals for deceptively advertising height-enhancing supplements for children and teens without scientific evidence. The company also used fake reviews and incentivized 5-star ratings. The order requires a $750,000 payment and prohibits false health claims and deceptive review practices.
$2.3M
The FTC alleged that RentGrow, a tenant screening company, violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) by failing to use reasonable procedures to ensure the accuracy of its reports, including by reporting duplicate records and failing to disclose data sources. RentGrow agreed to pay a $2.25 million penalty and is prohibited from further FCRA violations and from misrepresenting dispute outcomes.
The FTC and New York Attorney General took action against Handy Technologies for deceptive earnings claims and failure to disclose fees and fines that led to millions of dollars being withheld from workers' wages. The FTC is sending over $2.7 million in refunds to 62,893 affected consumers.
$35.0M
The FTC alleged that Hopper, a travel booking app, charged consumers hidden and pre-selected fees (Tip and VIP Support) without their consent, misrepresented the benefits of VIP Support and Price Freeze services, and failed to clearly disclose total prices. Hopper agreed to pay $35 million for consumer redress and is prohibited from misrepresenting fees under a proposed order.
$1.5M
The FTC finalized a settlement with Publishing.com LLC and its principals for misleading consumers about potential earnings from self-publishing products. The company will pay $1.5 million and is prohibited from making unsubstantiated earnings claims, failing to disclose refund terms, and misrepresenting endorsements and reviews.
The FTC is seeking public comment on a proposed policy statement addressing concerns that AI companies may be manipulating AI system outputs contrary to consumer expectations for objectivity and accuracy. The statement explains that such conduct could be considered deceptive under Section 5 of the FTC Act. The public comment period runs until July 31, 2026.