What happened
Amazon's Ring introduced 'Familiar Faces' for its video doorbells, enabling users to create a catalogue of up to 50 known individuals for personalised alerts. This opt-in feature, disabled by default, does not utilise biometric data for AI model training. However, the system scans all individuals within the camera's view, not solely those tagged. Untagged facial data is retained for up to six months. This functionality is not available in Illinois, Texas, or Portland, Oregon, due to local restrictions.
Why it matters
The introduction of 'Familiar Faces' increases exposure to broader biometric data collection, as the system scans all individuals within view, irrespective of their catalogued status. This creates a visibility gap for compliance and IT security teams regarding the scope of data capture beyond explicitly identified individuals. The six-month retention of untagged facial data places an increased due diligence requirement on platform operators to manage and audit data lifecycle, particularly in regions without specific prohibitions on such practices.
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