John,

Amazon anticipates its creepy indoor spy drone will be released next year but the device has not been certified by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Tell the FCC: stop Amazon’s plan to unleash invasive flying surveillance robots in our houses and communities.

Ring Always Home Cam, Amazon’s latest surveillance device, is an indoor camera-enabled drone. The spy robot independently dislodges from its base to investigate noises or periodically patrol your house when it senses no one is home. Additionally, users can pilot the device using a live feed to view everything the camera sees. ¹

This is disturbing. Unlike a set camera, a flying drone isn’t fixed to record one point of view, it's going to capture everything and everyone.

There are so many ways this Ring surveillance drone threatens privacy. An abuser could use it to monitor their spouse or an invasive homeowner could spy on AirBnB house guests. Not to mention, Amazon refuses to commit to prohibiting drone captured video from being available for police requests. ²

But there is still hope. The FCC has a privacy protecting provision, Rule 15.9, which Amazon’s flying spy device doesn’t satisfy. Since it's non-compliant, the FCC has the power to deny authorization of its sale. ³

Tell the FCC: protect consumers against Amazon’s Always Home Cam Privacy Invasions.

TAKE ACTION

Amazon doesn’t care about privacy. From Alexa devices recording everything we say to loading third party app trackers on Ring’s app to gather personal identifiable information from users, Amazon has repeatedly violated consumer’s personal boundaries and trust. ^4,5

They haven’t fared any better when it comes to securing our data. In the last year alone, hackers broke into Ring cameras verbally threatening families and trying to befriend a child. The Neighbors app shared the home location of Ring devices, while the Ring device itself has leaked thousands users’ Wi-Fi passwords to the public. ^6,7,8

We have the FCC certification process to protect us from companies like Amazon and products like the Ring Always Home Cam. In the past, the FCC has rubber stamped these invasive technologies. We won’t let that happen this time.

Amazon’s drone is currently being reviewed by the FCC. With your help, we can pressure the FCC to enforce their own rules and ban this surveillance drone that invades our privacy, collects our data, and monitors our every move.

Tell the FCC: protect consumers from Amazon’s indoor surveillance drone.

For surveillance-free future,

Ayele, Fight for the Future

Footnotes:

1. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/oct/03/why-amazons-home-security-drone-should-set-off-alarm-bells

2. Vox. https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/9/24/21454991/amazon-ring-drone-always-home-flying-camera-surveillance-privacy

3. Wet Machine. https://wetmachine.com/tales-of-the-sausage-factory/does-the-amazon-drone-cam-violate-the-fccs-anti-eavesdropping-rule-and-if-it-does-so-what/

4. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/05/06/alexa-has-been-eavesdropping-you-this-whole-time/

5. Electronic Frontier Foundation. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/01/ring-doorbell-app-packed-third-party-trackers

6. Vice. https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/z3bbq4/podcast-livestreams-hacked-ring-cameras-nulledcast

7. Gizmodo. https://gizmodo.com/ring-s-hidden-data-let-us-map-amazons-sprawling-home-su-1840312279

8. CNET. https://www.cnet.com/news/ring-doorbells-had-vulnerability-leaking-wi-fi-login-info-researchers-found/

Fight for the Future works to protect your rights in the digital age.