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ZDNET Highlights
- Amazon has launched its new Familiar Faces feature.
- It also lets Ring users save people’s faces to a library in the app.
- Critics argue that this is a dangerous violation of privacy.
Amazon has launched a new feature that enables Ring doorbell cameras to recognize and catalog people’s faces using AI.
While the company is promoting the technology as a convenient way for homeowners to customize information and increase security, some are calling it a dangerous breach of privacy and a step towards mass surveillance.
started In September, the familiar faces feature is not turned on by default. But once Ring users join in, it can automatically scan the faces of guests and passersby using facial recognition technology, or FRT. FRT works by scanning your face and, with the help of AI, translating it into a unique patchwork of numbers, also known as a “faceprint.”
Also: Ring vs. Blink: I compared the two most popular security camera brands, and here’s who wins
While many tech companies have begun to integrate the technology into products – it is commonly used to unlock iPhones, for example – it has come under increasing criticism from consumer advocacy groups, industry watchdogs and lawmakers. Some experts are now arguing that Amazon’s new feature poses a particularly high risk, both due to the fact that it collects biometric data from anyone who comes within sight of the Ring cameras and in light of Amazon’s past partnerships with law enforcement agencies, including Flock, a surveillance company that shares footage with ICE.
Massachusetts Senator Edward Markey wrote in a public speech, “Amazon’s system forces non-consenting viewers to be included in biometric databases without their knowledge or consent.” Letter Published in October. “This is an unacceptable privacy breach.”
Familiar Faces is now being made available to Ring users across the United States.
how it works
The new feature is apparently designed to make the Ring app more personalized. An AI algorithm scans the faces picked up by the doorbell’s camera, and in the app, users will have the option to label and save up to 50 of them in the Event History or Familiar Faces section. Adding a name to a person’s face will make the app provide more specific information: for example, “Laura at the front door,” rather than “person at the front door.”
“This technology is useful for eliminating guesswork and making it easier to discover and review key moments associated with specific acquaintances in the Ring app experience,” Amazon wrote in its September announcement.
Also: Do you have a Ring camera? This new update fixes its biggest problem for free
However, in that announcement, mention of the upcoming launch of Familiar Faces was somewhat buried; The main focus was the launch of a high-resolution camera, as well as Search Party, another AI feature that helps homeowners and people in the neighborhood find lost pets. Amazon wrote, “Search Party reflects Ring’s vision of using AI not only to power personal devices, but to transform them into simpler devices, making it easier for neighbors to keep track of each other, and creating safer, more connected communities.”
push and shove
However, some experts argue that Amazon’s deployment of its new AI-powered FRT will do nothing but create safer communities.
“Today’s convenience of recognizing your friend at your front door could easily be repurposed tomorrow for mass surveillance,” the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a nonprofit focused on digital privacy and free speech, wrote in November. blog post Titled “The Legal Case Against Ring’s Face Recognition Feature.”
Also: This $99 smart sensor is one of the best investments I’ve made for home security
According to the EFF, Amazon may retain a person’s biometric data for up to six months, even if they are not saved by a Ring user in the Familiar Faces library, although that data will not be used for algorithm training purposes. Amazon did not immediately respond to ZDNET’s request for comment.
one ring spokes told Washington Post The new feature won’t be available in Texas or Illinois, both of which require companies to get permission before collecting biometric data, or in Portland, Oregon, where there are laws restricting the use of FRT.
Should you use it?
As you’ve probably noticed, we’re in the midst of the “AI upgrade” era; Every product and service that can be imbued with some form of AI will likely be, if it isn’t already.
Some of these enhancements are actually useful; A chatbot that can help you find deals on flights, for example, or an agent that can manage your email inbox can save time on mundane and sometimes stressful tasks in the past.
But every time you pick up a new AI tool – or, as sometimes happens, start using it one day without giving explicit consent – you’re also agreeing to hand over more of your personal data to tech companies. This can lead to more targeted ads, more addictive products, and sometimes data breaches.
Whenever you use AI, ask yourself: Is it worth handing over more of my data? In the case of Ring’s new FRT technology, is the loss of privacy – for you and for the many other people who come to your front door or simply walk by – worth promoting the relatively small convenience that results from notifications labeled with a person’s name?
