The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has proposed that a China-based smart home device manufacturer pay a significant financial penalty for providing false contact information regarding the company’s U.S.-based agent.
According to a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture issued in mid-November, the company, the Eken Group Limited, provided false contact information on three separate FCC applications in connection with models of the company’s video doorbells. The FCC has proposed that the company pay a fine of $734,872 for the false filings.
The false contact information was discovered as a result of an investigation by the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau into potential privacy and security vulnerabilities in the company’s video doorbells. Enforcement Bureau agents sent a formal Letter of Inquiry to the domestic point-of-contact listed on the company’s applications, only to learn that the listed mailing address was for a mailbox that had been inactive for almost five years.
Subsequent attempts to contact the individual who signed the company’s applications have gone unanswered.
According to an article in Consumer Reports, the company’s video doorbells expose users’ home IP addresses and Wi-Fi network names, allowing access to photos and videos captured by the devices. The FCC says that these vulnerabilities raise serious concerns about a variety of privacy issues, including stalking, domestic violence survivor safety, and other concerns.
The FCC’s Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture issued to the Eken Group is available at https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-24-122A1.pdf.
The Consumer Reports article that identified Eken’s doorbell vulnerabilities is available at https://www.consumerreports.org/home-garden/home-security-cameras/video-doorbells-sold-by-major-retailers-have-security-flaws-a2579288796/.
