Amazon sued over Ring doorbell's facial recognition feature
Virginia resident accused Amazon of collecting biometric data through Ring cameras without consent and seeks class action lawsuit
We are in an age where many technology companies have an insatiable collection of our personal and biometric data. It seems that total privacy is a thing of the past. That doesn't mean we should accept it without question. At least that's how some people see it. Amazon is facing a new legal dispute, after a Virginia resident sued the company for collecting facial information from people without their consent through the facial recognition feature built into Ring smart doorbell cameras.
The lawsuit was filed by Charles Sigwalt in federal court in Seattle, the city where Amazon maintains one of its main headquarters. The plaintiff maintains that the so-called “Familiar Faces” feature uses facial recognition technology to analyze the faces of people who appear in front of Ring cameras and generate biometric records that allow them to later be identified.
According to the complaint, the system scans anyone who passes in front of the device and creates a “face print” that can be used to recognize them on future occasions. Sigwalt is seeking class action status for the case.
“When Plaintiffs and Class Members entered homes and businesses at locations that had Ring cameras with facial recognition enabled, they did not consent to having their privacy rights violated upon entry,” the lawsuit states.
Sigwalt claims his biometric data was collected while visiting the homes of family and friends who were using Ring devices. Additionally, consider that the company continues to store that information.
Amazon declined to comment on the case.
The “Familiar Faces” feature was introduced by Ring in September 2025 as a tool aimed at offering more personalized alerts to camera owners. Instead of receiving a generic notification about a person at the door, users can receive alerts identifying frequent visitors.
“Over time, your camera learns to recognize friends, family, and frequent visitors,” explains Ring, on its website. The company also indicates that users can activate or deactivate this feature.
However, the tool has come under fire from privacy advocates. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has warned that biometric data collected by these types of systems could be used for mass surveillance or exposed in the event of a security breach.
Critics also include Senator Edward Markey of Massachusetts, who has expressed concern about the possibility of facial data being recorded from people who never gave permission to be scanned.
This is not the first time Ring has faced privacy-related questions. In 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sued Amazon for alleged security failures and for allowing employees and contractors access to private videos captured by cameras. The case ended with a $5.8 million settlement.
Amazon acquired Ring in 2018 for $1 billion. Now, this new lawsuit once again puts the balance between security tools powered by artificial intelligence and protecting the privacy of millions of people under the magnifying glass.