A new class action lawsuit demands that Amazon-owned Ring compensate Americans whose faces were scanned without their knowledge by the company's "Familiar Faces" feature.
The lawsuit, filed in California, accuses Amazon of violating state privacy laws by collecting biometric data from individuals who never consented-including postal workers, delivery drivers, and children-when Ring doorbell cameras automatically scan and identify faces.
Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass.) has urged Amazon to discontinue the feature, noting that consumers have no way to consent or request deletion of their biometric data except by contacting each individual Ring device owner separately.
Ring's privacy issues extend beyond this feature. In 2023, the FTC settled a lawsuit alleging Ring allowed thousands of employees to watch customer video recordings. Amazon paid $5.8 million in that case but admitted no wrongdoing.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has called on regulators to investigate Amazon's consent practices, stating that the company appears to be shifting its legal obligations onto individual camera owners.