Lawsuit
FTC: Ring spied on customers
2023The FTC found Ring let employees and contractors watch customers' private videos and failed to secure them, resulting in a $5.8M settlement.
Individual
Jeff Bezos
Founder & Executive Chairman
Est. net worth: $252B
Founded Amazon as an online bookstore in July 1994 in Bellevue, Washington, and served as CEO from 1994/1996 until July 2021, when he became Executive Chairman while remaining Chair of the Board. Under Bezos, Amazon launched AWS and acquired Ring, the products that underpin its surveillance footprint (AWS Rekognition facial recognition and the Ring/Neighbors doorbell network).
On the record
Companies
Incidents in their orbit
Investigation
2,000+ police footage partnerships
2021Ring built partnerships with thousands of police and fire agencies to request residents' doorbell footage, turning private homes into a distributed surveillance network.
Investigation
Falsely matched 28 members of Congress
2018The ACLU showed Amazon's Rekognition falsely matched 28 members of Congress to mugshots — disproportionately people of color — while Amazon marketed it to police.
Ban / Halt
Police-use moratorium
2020Amid bias findings and protests, Amazon paused police use of Rekognition — a moratorium it later extended indefinitely.
- ↳Amazon pauses police use of Rekognition — Reuters, 2020