Jamie Siminoff, CEO Amazon subsidiary Ring, at the end of this month, is stepping down from the company’s role announced Wednesday.
– Advertisement –
Siminoff will take over the role of chief inventor on March 22 and Elizabeth Hamren will replace her as CEO. Hammeren most recently served as COO of chat app Discord, and has held executive roles in MicrosoftXbox Division of and meta’Oculus virtual reality unit.
In addition to Ring, Hammeren will also oversee Amazon Key, the company’s in-home delivery service; shared network service Amazon Sidewalk; As well as Blink, another maker of home security cameras that Amazon acquired in 2017.
– Advertisement –
Siminoff wrote, “Invention is my true passion. I am constantly looking at how we can deliver for our neighbors, whom we will always call our customers.” in a blog post, “That’s why I decided to transition my role to chief inventor and bring on a new CEO.”
The move comes five years after Amazon acquired Ring in 2018 for $1 billion. The deal has helped Amazon grow its presence in the smart home and home security categories.
– Advertisement –
At the same time, press reports have scrutinized Ring’s security protocols and the technology’s threats to consumer privacy.
In 2020, Ring said it fired four employees for peeping into customer video feeds after reports Intercept And Information It found that Ring employees in Ukraine were given unfettered access to video from Ring cameras around the world.
The company strengthened its security measures after several incidents in which hackers gained access to multiple users’ cameras. hackers in one case were able to see and communicate An 8 year old girl. Ring blamed the issue on users reusing their passwords.
Ring has also drawn criticism from privacy and civil liberties advocates over a controversial partnership with thousands of police departments across the country. The program allows police and fire departments to request video footage recorded by Ring cameras.
Privacy advocates have expressed concern that the program, and neighboring apps with Ring, increase the risk of racial profiling and turn residents into informants, while giving police access to footage without warrants and access to content. With some railing on how to do that.
In 2021, Ring began taking requests from police to make videos or information public in the Neighbors app.
Watch: Amazon’s smart home dominance and how it could grow with the iRobot acquisition
