Amazon faces class action over Ring's facial recognition feature
Ring's Familiar Faces AI stored images without consent, lawsuit alleges.
Amazon faces a class action lawsuit over Ring's Familiar Faces feature, which uses AI-powered facial recognition to identify people who regularly visit a home. Filed in Seattle by Virginia resident Charles Sigwalt, the suit claims Ring collects and stores facial recognition data from passersby without their consent. The feature, announced in September and launched in December, lets Ring users opt in to receive specific notifications like “Dad is at the door” instead of generic “person at the door” alerts. However, privacy advocates and lawmakers like Senator Ed Markey criticized the feature for scanning faces of individuals who never agreed to be tracked.
The lawsuit highlights Amazon's history of privacy issues with Ring. In 2023, Amazon settled with the FTC for $5.8 million over allegations that employees and contractors had unrestricted access to private customer videos. Ring also faced backlash for its law enforcement partnerships, including allowing police to request footage without a warrant. After a Super Bowl ad promoting Search Party (an AI pet-finding tool), Ring canceled plans to partner with Flock Safety, which had shared footage with ICE. Ring founder Jamie Siminoff cited workload concerns, but critics see a pattern of privacy violations. Amazon has not commented on the current lawsuit.
- Class action filed by Virginia resident Charles Sigwalt claims Ring's Familiar Faces feature collected facial data from millions without consent.
- Ring encrypts face data and deletes unidentified faces after 30 days, but critics argue bystanders never opted in.
- Amazon previously paid $5.8M FTC fine for employees improperly accessing private Ring videos and had controversial police partnerships.
Why It Matters
Mass facial recognition without consent raises privacy risks for everyone, not just Ring users.