Ring adds new privacy dashboard days after company is found sending data to third-parties

Ring adds a privacy dashboard that lets users control which third-party apps have access to their accounts days after company is found sending user information to third-parties like Facebook and Google

  • The dashboard lets users manage access for third-party apps and services
  • It also lets users view law enforcement agencies that Ring has partnerships with 
  • The streamlined dashboard comes days after revelations about data sharing 
  • The EFF found Ring was sending personal information to major tech companies 

Amazon-owned Ring is trying to make its in-app privacy controls more robust after revelations that it had been funneling user data to major tech companies. 

In a blog post on Thursday, the company announced that it has added a new privacy dashboard to its app that allows users of its home security cameras to more easily customize their security and privacy settings.     

The news comes after a report this week from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit that focuses on digital privacy, which found Ring had been sending personally-identifiable data to several third-parties such as Facebook and Google. 

Among the data was potentially sensitive information like private IP addresses and names, which critics say undermines the company’s commitment to security.  

Ring is releasing new privacy controls to its app days after it was found to be sending user data to companies like Facebook and Google

Among the features that comes courtesy of a new dashboard, according to Ring, is a the ability to see if someone else is currently logged into your rings account. Users can then choose to log them out if desired.

Additionally, Ring is allowing users to manage the level of access third-party apps and services have tot heir Ring accounts. 

Ring says the feature will be rolled out to all of its users in the ‘next few days’ and will require them to update the Ring app to the latest version on iOS and Android. 

Notably, the company is also adding a tool that lets users observe which police departments are partnered with Ring in an effort to ‘help inform you about when police are working with your community.’

Ring’s partnerships with police in which law enforcement are allowed to request video footage from users have been just one of several controversial practices from the company throughout the last year.

Above is a preview of a dashboard that allows users to see which law enforcement agencies Ring has partnerships with

Above is a preview of a dashboard that allows users to see which law enforcement agencies Ring has partnerships with

Civil rights advocates say the alliance between Amazon and police has been dangerously opaque and that customers lack a clear explanation of how and when law enforcement are allowed to access their footage.

Likewise, Ring has come under scrutiny for its apparent lack of security measures that have contributed a number of high-profile attacks in which hackers gained access to video feeds and microphones. 

Ring took its recent dashboard roll out to remind users to activate two-factor authentication – a security measure that requires users to input a code sent to a mobile phone or email before logging in.

 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk