Amazon faces new lawsuit over Ring facial recognition privacy claims

Amazon is facing a new lawsuit alleging privacy violations after a Virginia resident claimed the company’s Ring doorbell cameras collected and stored images of his face using facial recognition software without consent.

Charles Sigwalt, the plaintiff, has filed a class-action lawsuit in federal court in Seattle, asserting that Ring’s "Familiar Faces" feature retains images of passersby, including himself, without their permission. He is seeking at least $5 million in damages for the class.

The optional "Familiar Faces" feature utilizes artificial intelligence to identify and remember individuals, allowing notifications to include specific names when recognized people approach a home or business.

According to the suit, those affected "did not consent to have their privacy rights violated at the entrance way." It further alleges that "Millions of other Americans passed by a Ring security camera and unknowingly had their facial recognition information collected."

Amazon has declined to comment on the lawsuit.

This legal challenge, which seeks unspecified damages for those impacted, marks the latest in a series of controversies surrounding Amazon’s Ring unit, known for its smart doorbells and security systems.

Ring, acquired by Amazon in 2018 for $1 billion, faced public backlash in February over a Super Bowl advertisement for a service that used its camera network to help locate lost dogs. Critics and privacy advocates raised concerns that the cameras could be used for widespread neighborhood surveillance.

Following this criticism, Ring ended an unrelated partnership with Flock Safety, a company that deploys license plate readers and cameras for law enforcement use.

In 2023, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission reached a $5.8 million settlement with Ring over privacy allegations, including claims that a former employee spied on female customers in their private spaces.

The FTC stated that Ring employees had unrestricted access to sensitive customer video data, enabling them and contractors to view and download it. Amazon denied any wrongdoing as part of that settlement.

In 2022, U.S. Democratic Senator Ed Markey alleged that Ring violated people’s privacy through its partnerships with law enforcement, granting access to user footage without proper consent.

In the suit filed on Monday, Sigwalt stated that Amazon’s "conduct here represents a profound privacy failure for millions of people who are now being tracked by Amazon."