Ring

Ring Employees Are Watching You For Fun

You know how people always talk about how you shouldn’t worry about privacy if you have nothing to hide? I always thought that was idiotic logic.

There’s always externalities to watch out for, not to mention slippery slopes in embracing technologies or behaviors and practices that erode valuable aspects of our lives.

Thinking about privacy is not in the realm of conspiracy theorists or weirdos. Nay, it is a concept that all must think about as they invite Alexa, Ring, or general tech to enable augmentation into their lives.

Take, for instance, the recent Ring scandal.

The Ring Snafu

Reports note that Ring employees have taken advantage of their position to watch video footage through Ring systems present at several customers’ devices. They’ve known to do so in at least three or more situations.

 Now, this situation is far from a stretch of the imagination. The footage is there, why not watch? Who will care?

Ring belongs to Amazon now, and this situation reflects on the larger Seattle based company.

But the funny thing is that this is just one of the more troubling episodes of security and invasion of privacy regarding Ring. In another event, hackers went through the interwebs and tapped into a Ring system to harass families at their homes. The hacker speaks through the camera like an omniscient presence requiring a ransom, saying hateful remarks, or just being goofy.

Scary right?

Now, it may not be due to a breach on the Ring database but just a general lack of proper precaution and safety mechanisms.

Something as simple as not recycling passwords may help to prevent such issues.

But I digress.

The more significant problem is that the era of the Internet of things and everything connected to the Internet poses issues that we must think about before fully embracing the trend.

These instances with the Ring system is just one set of recent examples. There will quite likely be many more incidents to occur because of the connected nature of these things.

Ring purports to make people safe, and it probably does, with some added benefits.

You can even check and ensure that your Amazon packages and UPS packages are treated with care. If you suspect that someone might have stolen your item, you can check the footage.

Ring is present across various suburban neighborhoods, and you probably know friends and family that have adopted Ring. You may even have the device at your residence. It is indeed popular, USA Today notes that “more than 3.4 million doorbell recording devices were expected to be sold last year. Market research firm Strategy Analytics expects sales to reach $1.4 billion by 2023, up from $500 million last year.”

Convenience and Safety over Privacy

These privacy and cybersecurity issues are something that will continue to rise as we bring about further technological advancements into society into every aspect of our lives.

What are you to do?

At the very least, be aware of the potential dangers and issues that may occur with these connected devices, practice proper preventative measures such as good password selection, and other basic security protocols.

The world is changing, that necessitates new knowledge and practices, act accordingly.

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