Amazon was sued Monday over alleged privacy violations with its Ring doorbell camera. A class action lawsuit filed in Seattle by Virginia resident Charles Sigwald alleges that Ring’s Familiar Faces feature saves images of passersby without their consent.
Ring announced its Familiar Faces feature last September, but it faced pushback from consumer protection groups like the EFF and Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA). However, the company moved forward with plans to release the feature in December.
Familiar Faces allows Ring users to identify people who regularly come into their home through AI facial recognition. That way, when a regular guest, such as a family member, mailman, or neighbor, comes to your door, your device can recognize them and deliver a more specific notification, such as “Dad is at the door” instead of “There’s someone at the door.” Ring users must opt in to the feature, but privacy advocates have noted that people walking past these Ring doorbells are not consenting to facial recognition scans. The same concerns are at the heart of this class action lawsuit.
“Millions of other Americans walked by Ring’s surveillance cameras and had their facial recognition information collected without their knowledge,” the complaint says.
Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment. At the time the feature was released, the company said facial data was encrypted and never shared. Unidentified faces are automatically deleted after 30 days.
Amazon’s Ring has a record of user privacy concerns. In 2023, Amazon settled with the FTC and paid a $5.8 million fine over allegations that its staff and contractors improperly accessed private videos of female customers. The FTC complaint states that all employees have full access to all customer videos, even if the employee does not need access to that footage. Ring also maintains relationships with law enforcement, and previously gave police the power to request Ring footage from users without a warrant.
The company faced similar backlash after airing a Super Bowl ad showcasing Search Party, an AI-powered feature that uses Ring footage to find lost pets. Days later, Ring canceled plans to partner with video surveillance company Flock Safety, which reportedly provided the footage to ICE and other federal agencies. In an interview with TechCrunch after Ring canceled its contract with Flock Safety, Ring founder Jamie Siminoff said the deal would create an excessive “workload.”
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