The lawsuit claims that Amazon’s conduct could break the law even in states that don’t have strict biometric-collection statutes.
Amazon is facing a proposed class-action lawsuit alleging that its popular Ring cameras illegally collected and analyzed biometric data without obtaining consumers’ explicit consent.
According to USA Today, the lawsuit was filed June 1 in a Washington state-based federal court.
Attorneys for the class claim that Ring’s “Familiar Faces” feature uses facial-recognition technology to scan, store, and classify visitors, including guests and passersby, without first obtaining any form of permission.
Ring, notes USA Today, introduced the feature to U.S. consumers in December 2025. Familiar Faces lets users receive personalized alerts that can identify people at the door. However, the lawsuit claims that Ring scans the faces of everyone captured on camera, including people who aren’t “known visitors” or otherwise recognized by the Familiar Faces feature. Captured faces are then converted to unique biometric identifiers, which are saved for up to six months.
“Familiar Faces uses facial recognition technology to scan the face of all guests and passersby before categorizing who they are using artificial intelligence,” the lawsuit states. “AI then collects a ‘face print’ of the respective person and translates it into a unique patchwork of numbers that allows Ring to re-identify who that person is each time Familiar Faces deploys facial recognition on them.”
“When plaintiffs and class members entered the homes and businesses of places which had Ring cameras that deployed Familiar Faces, they did not consent to have their privacy rights violated at the entrance way,” the lawsuit alleges.
Charles Sigwalt, the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, said that Ring collected his biometric data without warning while visiting friends’ and family members’ homes. He believes that Amazon is still storing his biometric data. Sigwalt is seeking more than $5 million in damages for the class.
“Here, there are millions of Americans who have walked by Ring cameras which have activated the Familiar Faces feature… the damages in this action far exceed $5,000,000.00 when calculating the statutory damages that may be owed to each Class members in addition to the actual damages caused by the aggregate loss of value of biometric information.”
Citing state-specific restrictions on Ring’s use, the lawsuit contends that Amazon has the ability to adhere to biometric laws but simply chooses not to.
“Ring clearly has the ability to follow biometric privacy laws with respect to the Familiar Faces feature—but it deliberately chooses not to,” the lawsuit alleges. “Specifically, Ring told The Washington Post that Familiar Faces will not be available in Texas, Illinois, or Portland, Oregon, because each jurisdiction has strict laws banning this type of biometric facial recognition surveillance. However, the rest of the country, including Plaintiff and Class members, do not get the same respect.”
The lawsuit claims that Amazon’s conduct could break the law even in states that don’t have strict biometric-collection statutes. Sigwalt’s legal team noted, for instance, that a Federal Trade Commission policy statement indicates that businesses “engaging in surreptitious and unexpected collection or use of biometric information” could be in violation of the agency’s prohibition on deceptive and unfair trade practices.
“Ring’s collection, retention, and use of biometric information without adequate consent demonstrates that Ring violates Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act—which protects against deceptive and unfair trade practices,” the lawsuit claims, arguing that “Ring’s collection of facial recognition [data] violates basic notions of consumer privacy in the United States.”
Sources
Amazon faces lawsuit over Ring facial recognition software
Amazon-owned Ring should pay Americans for scanning their faces, lawsuit says
Amazon sued over Ring facial recognition, plaintiffs seeking $5M
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