Ring's Neighbors app exposed users' home addresses, locations due to security flaw

Ring's Neighbors app exposed users' home addresses and specific locations before the company became aware of the security issue.

The security bug affected users who posted on the neighborhood watch app, which lets residents report nearby crimes or public-safety issues. The Amazon-owned app was retrieving hidden data, including users' home addresses, from Ring servers, Tech Crunch first reported. The information wasn't visible for app users.

"We fixed this issue soon after we became aware of it," said a Ring spokesperson. "We have not identified any evidence of this information being accessed or used maliciously."

With the fix, the Application Programming Interface only provides the city, state and zip code of posts, as well as approximate latitude and longitude coordinates.

Amazon acquired the home security company, popular for the Ring Video Doorbell, for $1 billion in 2018.

This isn't the first time Ring deals with a security issue. In 2019, the personal data for nearly 3,000 Ring camera owners was reportedly compromised, exposing information such as login names and passwords. To boost privacy, Ring introduced a two-factor authentication to log into accounts.

The company has also faced criticism over its partnerships with police departments around the country and possibly pursuing facial recognition technology that could flag certain people as suspicious.