Use of facial recognition technology
In February 2018, Business Insider reported references to use of facial recognition technology in Ring's privacy policy. The policy stated:
Where permitted by applicable law, you may choose to use additional functionality in your Ring product that, through video data from your device, can recognize facial characteristics of familiar visitors. For example, you may want to receive different notifications from your Ring Doorbell depending on whether a visitor is a stranger or a member of your household. If you choose to activate this feature, we obtain certain facial feature information about the visitors you ask your Ring product to recognize. We require your explicit consent before you can take advantage of this feature.
In December 2018, patents filed by Ring surfaced to identify "suspicious" people and automatically alert police.
In August 2019, a Buzzfeed News reported, "Ring Says It Doesn't Use Facial Recognition, But It Has "A Head Of Face Recognition Research."" The piece reported on a 2018 presentation from Ring Ukraine's "Head of Face Recognition Research", as well as a statement from Ring Ukraine's website stating, "We develop semi-automated crime prevention and monitoring systems which are based on, but not limited to, face recognition."
Also in 2019, as part of his investigation into Ring's cooperation with law enforcement, Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts probed the company's privacy policy's reference to use of facial recognition technology. Amazon responded:
We do not currently offer facial recognition technology in Ring products. This sentence in the Privacy Notice refers to a contemplated, but unreleased feature. We do frequently innovate based on customer demand, and facial recognition features are increasingly common in consumer security cameras today, such as: Google Nest Hello, Tend Secure Lynx, Netamo Welcome, Wisenet Smartcam, and Honeywell Smart Home Security. If our customers want these features in Ring security cameras, we will only release these feature with thoughtful design including privacy, security, and user control; and we will clearly communicate with our customers as we offer new features.
In November 2019, the Intercept reported on internal documents detailing "Proactive Suspect Matching". The feature would use facial recognition to group videos and create a profile of an alleged criminal based on Ring camera footage. Ring denied that the feature was in use or development.
In 2020, Ring posted a one-sentence position stance on its blog stating, "Ring does not use facial recognition technology in any of its devices or services, and will neither sell nor offer facial recognition technology to law enforcement." In 2021, Senator Markey and his colleagues introduced the "Facial Recognition and Biometric Technology Moratorium Act." A year later, Markey renewed his investigation into Ring, and in July 2022, Markey cited Ring's "[refusal] to commit to not incorporating facial recognition technology in its products" as evidence of the need for legislation to "prohibit use of biometric technology by federal agencies and condition federal grant funding to state and local entities on moratoria on the use of biometric technology."
Amazon has attempted to distance itself from Ring Ukraine, the branch responsible for developing computer vision and facial recognition solutions. In a statement for release, the general manager of the Kyiv-based office commented, "We are no longer part of a small startup, but a full-fledged R&D center working for one of the world's largest corporations. [We are involved not only in Ring's product line but also in many other Amazon projects. That is,] We are a large Ukrainian team of specialists working on the world market." At legal's request, the general manager was asked to remove the reference to Amazon. "Ring Ukraine" was eventually rebranded as "Squad".
In September 2025, Ring launched a new beta feature known as "Familiar Faces", which "intelligently recognizes familiar people and empowers customers to reduce notifications triggered by familiar people's routine activities". The feature has been criticized as an implementation of facial recognition by the Ring product.
