In the wake of reports of Ring devices being hacked, Amazon has informed senators of four incidents where employees improperly accessed user videos, according to Ars Technica.
Amazon was replying to several senators who have sent inquiries to the company regarding their Ring business. Originally, the inquiries centered around Amazon’s relationship with hundreds of law enforcement agencies to promote Ring’s cameras. As news of Ring’s security woes became widely known, a group of senators sent a follow-up inquiry regarding those breaches.
In their response, Amazon admitted there have been four employees in the last four hears who have improperly accessed user videos. In each case, according to the company, the employees did have legitimate access to user videos, however “the attempted access to that data exceeded what was necessary for their job functions.”
Amazon says swift action was taken to fire the employees involved and “take appropriate disciplinary action in each of these cases.” In addition, “Ring periodically reviews the access privileges it grants to its team members to verify that they have a continuing need for access to customer information for the purpose of maintaining and improving the customer experience.”
Even with these steps, this is unwelcome attention for a company trying to prove its products can be trusted.