Warning: ‘Ring doorbell sending out customers identifiable information’

Ring doorbell ‘gives social media platforms and Google customers data, an investigation suggests. 

The Electronic Frontier Foundation found the Ring app “packed” with third-party tracking, sending out customers’ personal identifiable information. 

It has been reported that at least five companies were receiving a range of information, including names and IP addresses, while Ring said it limited the amount of data it shared.

The company has stated that they use third-party service providers to help ‘optimise the customer experience and evaluate the effectiveness of marketing’

However, the Electronic Frontier Foundation have announced that Ring was failing to protect users’ privacy, only one of the trackers it has found was mentioned in the companies privacy policy. 

Ring inc. is a “home security and smart home company” owned by Amazon. Every ‘Ring’ device features a wide-angle lens and a built-in microphone and speaker, so you can see, hear and speak to anyone on your property from anywhere.

“The danger in sending even small bits of information is that analytics and tracking companies are able to combine these bits together to form a unique picture of the user’s device”, the EFF said.

The five companies identified as receiving information were: Facebook, Branch, AppsFlyer, MixPanel and Google-owned Crashalytics. Only MixPanel is mentioned in Ring’s Privacy notice, along with Google Analytics, HotJar and Optimizely.

Amazon who bought Ring in 2018, has been criticised for partnering with at least 200 law-enforcement agencies to carry out Surveillance via its devices.

Campaign group ‘Fight for the Future’, claims that Amazon are encouraging neighbours to spy on each other.

Last year, there was a series of stories about Ring cameras being hacked.

Max Eliaser, one of Amazon’s software development engineers, called for Ring to “be shut down immediately and not brought back”, this weekend.