Amazon Sued Over Ring Facial Recognition Feature

The lawsuit, filed Monday in federal court in Seattle by plaintiff Charles Sigwalt, centers on Ring’s optional “Familiar Faces” feature, which uses artificial intelligence to recognize and remember individuals who appear on camera. The technology allows homeowners and businesses to receive notifications identifying known visitors by name when they return.

Sigwalt alleges that the feature retains facial images of people who pass by Ring-equipped properties, even when those individuals have no relationship with the camera owner and have not agreed to have their biometric information collected. He is seeking class-action status and at least $5 million in damages on behalf of affected individuals, according to Reuters.

In the complaint, Sigwalt argued that those impacted “did not consent to have their privacy rights violated at the entrance way,” adding that “Millions of other Americans passed by a Ring security camera and unknowingly had their facial recognition information collected.”

Amazon declined to comment on the allegations, Reuters reported.

The lawsuit adds to a series of privacy-related controversies that have surrounded Ring, Amazon’s smart home security subsidiary. Amazon acquired Ring in 2018 for approximately $1 billion, and the company has since faced scrutiny from regulators, lawmakers and privacy advocates over how customer data is collected, stored and shared.

Earlier this year, Ring drew criticism for a Super Bowl advertisement promoting a service designed to help locate lost dogs through its network of neighborhood cameras. Privacy advocates and some users expressed concerns that the technology could be used to monitor entire neighborhoods and public spaces, according to Reuters.

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Following that backlash, Ring ended a separate partnership with Flock Safety, a company that provides license plate readers and surveillance cameras commonly used by law enforcement agencies, per Reuters.

Ring has also faced regulatory action in recent years. In 2023, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission reached a $5.8 million settlement with the company over privacy and security allegations. According to Reuters, the FTC said a former Ring employee had spied on female customers in private areas of their homes, including bedrooms and bathrooms.

The agency also alleged that Ring employees and contractors had broad access to customers’ video recordings, enabling them to view and download sensitive footage. Amazon denied wrongdoing as part of the settlement, according to Reuters.

Privacy concerns surrounding Ring have also attracted attention from lawmakers. In 2022, U.S. Senator Ed Markey alleged that Ring’s relationships with law enforcement agencies allowed access to certain user footage without adequate consent protections, Reuters reported.

In the new lawsuit, Sigwalt said Amazon’s “conduct here represents a profound privacy failure for millions of people who are now being tracked by Amazon.”

The case is likely to intensify ongoing debates over the use of facial recognition technology, biometric data collection and the privacy implications of increasingly widespread home surveillance systems. As Ring continues to expand its AI-powered capabilities, the legal challenge could test the limits of how companies collect and use facial recognition data from people who are not customers but are captured by cameras in public-facing spaces.

Source: Reuters