Ring’s AI Doorbells: Friend or Foe?
- Sarah Ruivivar
- 7 days ago
- 2 min read
Amazon’s Ring doorbells have taken a futuristic leap with their new AI-powered facial recognition feature, “Familiar Faces.”
This nifty tool lets users create a catalogue of up to 50 familiar faces, from family to delivery drivers, offering personalised notifications like “Mum at Front Door.” While it sounds handy, not everyone is thrilled.
Privacy watchdogs and even a U.S. senator have raised eyebrows. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and others are concerned about Amazon's history of sharing data with law enforcement and its past security blunders. Remember when Ring had to cough up $5.8 million for lax video access controls? Yikes!
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Despite Amazon’s assurances of encrypted, non-shared data, sceptics worry about potential misuse. The feature isn’t on by default, so users must opt-in via the app, where they can label faces and manage alerts. But with Amazon’s track record, some suggest sticking to the old-school method: just peek at the doorbell feed!
Privacy laws have already blocked the feature in places like Illinois and Portland, Oregon. Meanwhile, Amazon insists it doesn’t use your data to train AI models and claims it can't trace all camera detections, even if asked by law enforcement.
Whether you see it as a step towards convenience or a privacy minefield, it’s clear that not every doorbell needs an AI makeover. So, Ring owners, proceed with caution—or perhaps just stick to the classic ding-dong!
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