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Team Worksheet 1

TEAM C

Mitra DehghaniMeybodi 1918893

Gurjeet Kaur 1920124

University Canada West

BUSI 601

Dr. Bruce Hiebert (Ph.D.)

Jan 31, 2021

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Team Worksheet 1

Introduction

We have chosen the Amazon-owned Ring doorbell camera scandal, which involved

creating an unofficial and unauthorized surveillance network. This came to light first in

January 2019. According to Biddle (2019a), the company marketed the doorbell camera not

only for surveillance use of the owner but also to help neighbourhood watch. In their mission

statement, the company stated, “Our mission to reduce crime in neighbourhoods has been at

the core of everything we do at Ring.”

The scandal begins with multiple surfaced videos of owners’ cameras on social

media. Referring to Carrega (2019), in December 2019, the company faced a class-action

lawsuit for $5 million that alleged their camera system to be vulnerable to cyberattacks.

In December 2020, Pettit (2020) reported another class-action lawsuit against the

company for weak security that allowed cyber crooks to break into its devices with ease and

harass the owners.

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References

Annual Reports. (n.d.). Amazon.com Inc. - AnnualReports.com.

https://www.annualreports.com/Company/amazoncom-inc

Biddle, S. (2019a, January 10). For Owners of Amazon’s Ring Security Cameras, Strangers

May Have Been Watching Too. The Intercept.

https://theintercept.com/2019/01/10/amazon-ring-security-camera/

Biddle, S. (2019b, November 26). Amazon’s Ring Planned Neighborhood “Watch Lists”

Built on Facial Recognition. The Intercept.

https://theintercept.com/2019/11/26/amazon-ring-home-security-facial-recognition/

Brown, D. U. T. (2020a, January 10). Amazon’s Ring fires four employees for snooping on

customers’ doorbell camera video feeds. USA TODAY.

https://eu.usatoday.com/story/tech/2020/01/10/amazons-ring-fired-employees-

snooping-customers-camera-feeds/4429399002/

Brown, D. U. T. (2020b, January 10). Amazon’s Ring fires four employees for snooping on

customers’ doorbell camera video feeds. USA TODAY.

https://eu.usatoday.com/story/tech/2020/01/10/amazons-ring-fired-employees-

snooping-customers-camera-feeds/4429399002/

Carrega, C. (2019, December 29). Amazon, Ring face $5 million proposed class action

lawsuit that alleges camera “vulnerable” to cyber-attacks. ABC News.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/amazon-ring-face-million-proposed-class-action-

lawsuit/story?id=67948687

Chiu, A. (2019, December 12). She installed a Ring camera in her children’s room for

‘peace of mind.’ A hacker accessed it and harassed her 8-year-old daughter.

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Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/12/12/she-installed-

ring-camera-her-childrens-room-peace-mind-hacker-accessed-it-harassed-her-year-

old-daughter/

Conklin, A. (2020, May 29). Is Amazon’s Ring safe? Fox Business.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/is-amazon-ring-safe

Farivar, C. (2020, February 15). Cute videos, but little evidence: Police say Amazon Ring

isn’t much of a crime fighter. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/all/cute-

videos-little-evidence-police-say-amazon-ring-isn-t-n1136026

Harwell, D. (2019, August 29). Doorbell-camera firm Ring has partnered with 400 police

forces, extending surveillance concerns. Washington Post.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/08/28/doorbell-camera-firm-ring-

has-partnered-with-police-forces-extending-surveillance-reach/

Holmes, A. (2019, December 16). Amazon Ring cameras keep getting hacked. Here’s how to

protect your Ring against hackers. Business Insider.

https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/amazon-ring-cameras-keep-getting-hacked-

heres-how-to-protect-your-ring-against-hackers-/articleshow/72777584.cms

Leon, H. (2019, December 13). Amazon’s Ring Home Surveillance Network Raises Big

Privacy Concerns. Observer. https://observer.com/2019/12/amazon-ring-home-

surveillance-network-privacy-concerns/

Leskin, P. (2019, August 9). Use this map to see if your local police department has access

to Amazon Ring’s unofficial surveillance netwo. Business Insider.

https://www.businessinsider.in/use-this-map-to-see-if-your-local-police-department-

has-access-to-amazon-rings-unofficial-surveillance-network-of-video-

doorbells/articleshow/70610496.cms
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Molla, R. (2019, December 20). Amazon’s Ring hacks could be prevented by two-step

authentication. Vox. https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/12/20/21031758/amazon-

ring-hack-security-login-username

Ng, A. (2019, June 5). Amazon’s helping police build a surveillance network with Ring

doorbells. CNET. https://www.cnet.com/features/amazons-helping-police-build-a-

surveillance-network-with-ring-doorbells/

Paul, K. (2019, August 30). Amazon’s doorbell camera Ring is working with police – and

controlling what they say. The Guardian.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/aug/29/ring-amazon-police-

partnership-social-media-neighbor

Pettit, H. (2020, December 24). Dozens sue Amazon Ring after vile hackers shout racial

abuse and death threats through home cameras. The Sun.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/13568591/amazon-ring-hackers-racist-abuse-home-

camera/

Read, B. (2019, December 12). Terrifying Videos Show Men Hacking Into Home Security

Cameras. The Cut. https://www.thecut.com/2019/12/amazon-ring-security-cameras-

hacked-in-peoples-homes.html

Ring: Ring. (n.d.). Amazon.Com.

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Ring/Ring/page/77B53039-540E-4816-BABB-

49AA21285FCF

Ropek, L. (2019, August 2). Amazon’s Ring Video Camera Alarms Privacy Advocates.

Government Technology. https://www.govtech.com/security/Amazons-Ring-Video-

Camera-Alarms-Privacy-Advocates.html
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Statista. (2020, October 26). Amazon - statistics & facts.

https://www.statista.com/topics/846/amazon/

Stewart, B. (2020, January 21). One Ring to rule them all: Surveillance ‘smart’ tech won’t

make Canadian cities safer. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/one-ring-

to-rule-them-all-surveillance-smart-tech-wont-make-canadian-cities-safer-129747

Stoller, D. R. (2020, January 2). Ring Hacking Lawsuit Boosts Amazon Security Device

Scrutiny (1). Bloomberg Law. https://news.bloomberglaw.com/privacy-and-data-

security/ring-hacking-lawsuit-boosts-scrutiny-of-amazon-security-device

The Globe and Mail. (n.d.). Amazon.com Inc (AMZN-Q) Quote.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/markets/stocks/AMZN-Q/

Vigdor, N. (2020, November 11). Somebody’s Watching: Hackers Breach Ring Home

Security Cameras. The New York Times.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/15/us/Hacked-ring-home-security-cameras.html

Villas-Boas, A. (2019, June 7). Police departments across the US are using video doorbells

from Amazon-owned Ring to create an unofficial surveillance network, a new report

says. Business Insider Nederland. https://www.businessinsider.nl/amazon-ring-video-

doorbell-footage-used-by-police-report-2019-6?international=true&r=US

WION Web Team. (2020, December 23). Dozens sue Amazons Ring smart cameras over

horrific invasions of privacy. WION. https://www.wionews.com/technology/dozens-

sue-amazons-ring-smart-cameras-over-horrific-invasions-of-privacy-352053