Ring, a subsidiary of e-commerce giant Amazon, has announced the recall of about 350,000 smart doorbells following reports that some caught fire.
In a notice posted by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) on Tuesday, hundreds of thousands of 2nd generation Ring doorbells sold in the US and Canada were affected by the recall due to potential fire hazard.
CPSC notice on Ring doorbell fire hazard
The CPSC notice also stated that the $100 doorbells were sold on Ring's website and on Amazon between June 2020 and October 2020. The notice reads: "The video doorbell's battery can overheat when the incorrect screws are used for installation, posing fire and burn hazards."
According to the CPSC, Ring has received 23 reports so far of its doorbells catching fire, causing property damage and eight cases of minor burns.
Ring doorbell users may verify if their units are part of the recall by going to the company's support website, and inputting the model and serial number printed on the back of the device.
Recent controversies involving Ring
Prior to the fire hazard issue, Ring has been involved in several controversies in recent past.
In June, Amazon announced that it will temporarily stop providing police forces its facial recognition technology for a year, amidst anti-racism protests.
According to the company, it made the decision to implement a one-year moratorium on the use of Amazon Rekognition to give Congress time to "implement appropriate rules" for police use of facial recognition algorithms, which the US government has found are often more likely to misidentify people of color.
In a blog post, Amazon said: "We’ve advocated that governments should put in place stronger regulations to govern the ethical use of facial recognition technology, and in recent days, Congress appears ready to take on this challenge."
"We hope this one-year moratorium might give Congress enough time to implement appropriate rules, and we stand ready to help if requested," the company explained.
Access to Ring’s technology granted many agencies far greater visibility into communities through the eyes of homeowners and their video surveillance cameras.
However, there seem to be few limitations on how the police can apply Amazon’s Rekognition software to video footage obtained from Ring. In 2019, Ring admitted that its policies do not cover how police departments handle or store video evidence.
In February, the firm launched a mandatory two-factor verification, following issues with privacy protection and data sharing.
In order for Ring users to log in to their accounts, they will need to undergo a mandatory two-factor verification, which involves entering a password and a unique six-digit code. The company also announced that it will halt its data sharing with third-party firms.
The initiative comes amidst criticism faced by Ring and Amazon over privacy protection and data sharing. A recent BBC report revealed Amazon’s extensive level of data collection.
Ring president Leila Rouhi wrote in a blog post that the firm takes “digital security and privacy seriously” and would look at additional ways to improve security.
The company also admitted in January that it terminated four of its employees for accessing users’ videos beyond what’s necessary.
