Jamie Siminoff, CEO of Amazon’s subsidiary Ring, will step down at the end of this month, the company announced Wednesday.
On March 22, Siminoff will assume the role of chief executive officer and succeed Elizabeth Hamren as CEO. Most recently, Hamren served as COO of chat app Discord, and held executive roles at MicrosoftThe Xbox part and Metas Oculus virtual reality class.
In addition to Ring, Hamren also maintains Amazon Key, the company’s domestic delivery service. Shared network service Amazon Walkway; Also in 2017 Amazon acquired Blink, another maker of home security cameras.
In a blog post, Siminoff wrote: “Creativity is my true passion. I am constantly looking at how we can adapt to serve our neighbors, who we call our customers. That’s why I decided to change my role to Chief Inventor and bring in a new CEO.
The move comes five years after Amazon acquired Ring in a $1 billion deal in 2018.
Meanwhile, media reports have fueled controversy over Ring’s security protocols and the technology’s impact on user privacy.
In the year In 2020, Ring said it fired four employees for watching customers’ video feeds and violating customer privacy after reports from The Intercept and The Information found that Ring employees in Ukraine were given unlimited access to videos from Ring cameras around the world.
The company has worked on strengthening security measures after hackers gained unhindered access to multiple users’ cameras. In one case, hackers were able to watch and interact with an 8-year-old girl. Ring blamed the issue on users reusing their passwords.
Ring has drawn criticism from privacy and civil liberties advocates for its controversial partnerships with thousands of police departments across the country. The program allows police and fire departments to access video footage captured by Ring cameras upon request.
Privacy advocates often question the program and the Ring’s companion Neighbors app, which raises the risk of racial profiling by turning residents into informants while allowing police to view the footage without a warrant and placing few safeguards on how the material is used.
In 2021, Ring began asking police to submit video or information requests in the Neighbors app.
