Amazon sued over Ring facial recognition technology
FILE-A doorbell device with a built-in camera made by home security company Ring is seen at a home. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Amazon was sued earlier this week by a Virginia man alleging privacy violations when Ring doorbell cameras at his friends and relatives’ homes gathered and stored images of his face utilizing facial recognition software.
Amazon purchased Ring in 2018 for $1 billion, according to Reuters.
Amazon's Ring facial recognition lawsuit
Dig deeper:
Charles Sigwalt, the plaintiff in the lawsuit, who is pushing for class-action status, sued Amazon in federal court in Seattle on Monday claiming a feature known as "familiar faces" preserves images of anyone who passes by without their consent.
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Reuters reported that Sigwalt is seeking $5 million in damages. In the lawsuit Sigwalt stated that Amazon’s "conduct here represents a profound privacy failure for millions of people who are now being tracked by Amazon."
Ring involved in past privacy allegations
The backstory:
In February, Ring faced criticism over a service it promoted during the Super Bowl that the company claimed assisted individuals find lost dogs by activating its neighborhood collection of cameras. But Reuters noted that Ring users and supporters of privacy expressed concern that the cameras might be used as surveillance in communities.
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A few years earlier, the Federal Trade Commission agreed to a $5.8 million settlement with Ring over privacy allegations that the federal agency claimed involved an ex-employee spying on female customers in their home bedrooms and bathrooms.
FTC officials claimed that Ring employees had unrestricted access to consumers’ private video data, allowing them and contractors to see and download it. Amazon denied any wrongdoing as part of the settlement.
And in 2022, Democratic Senator Ed Markey accused Ring of violating individuals’ privacy through its partnerships with authorities, granting them access to some user footage without consent.
The Source: Information for this story was provided by Reuters, which referenced information from the lawsuit. This story was reported from Washington, D.C.