Ring Doorbell Face Scans 2025: No Consent Required

🎥 What's Happening in December

Amazon's Ring cameras start scanning and storing faces. Every visitor. Every delivery driver. Every passerby.

"Familiar Faces" launches December 2025. Off by default (they say). Stores untagged faces for 6 months. No consent from the people being scanned.^[1]

Mysteriously not available in Illinois, Texas, or Portland. Wonder why.

👁️ What "Familiar Faces" Actually Does

Ring's pitch: "Know who's at your door!"^[2]

The reality:

Scans every face that approaches
Creates biometric faceprints
Compares against database
Labels people in your alerts
Stores unrecognized faces for 6 months
Shares data with... who knows

Your front door is now a biometric checkpoint.

🚫 Why It's Banned in Three Places

The Legal No-Go Zones

Amazon won't launch in:^[3]

Illinois:

BIPA law = $1,000-5,000 per violation
Private right to sue
Meta already paid $650 million here

Texas:

CUBI Act = $25,000 per violation
Meta just paid $1.4 billion
AG actively hunting violators

Portland:

Strictest facial recognition ban in US
Private businesses can't use it in public spaces
$1,000 per day fines

Translation: Amazon knows it's illegal. They're doing it everywhere else anyway.

💀 Who Gets Scanned Without Consent

📦

Delivery Workers

Amazon drivers (ironic)
FedEx, UPS, USPS
Food delivery (DoorDash, Uber Eats)
Instacart shoppers

Just doing their job. Now in a face database.

🏠

Neighbors & Visitors

Kids selling cookies
Political canvassers
Religious groups
Meter readers
Anyone walking by

"Walking onto a porch" = biometric collection.^[4]

🚔

Law Enforcement Dreams

3,989 police partnerships^[5]
Request footage without warrants
Now with face matching
Protest surveillance goldmine

Every Ring is a police camera.

📊 The Numbers That Matter

Ring's Reach

20+ million doorbells sold
400,000+ public safety requests
3,989 police partnerships
Coverage: Most US neighborhoods

Data Retention

6 months: Untagged faces^[6]
60 days: Default video storage
Forever: If shared with police
Unknown: AI training data

Customer Revolt

Mass subscription cancellations^[7]
"Swift and harsh" backlash
Privacy groups mobilizing
Senator Markey demanding answers^[8]

🎯 Amazon's Weasel Words Decoded

What Amazon says vs. what they mean:

"Off by Default"

They say: "Feature will be off by default"^[9]

Reality: Until we push an update. Or make it opt-out. Or bundle it with features you want.

"Not Currently Using for AI Training"

They say: "Not currently using biometric info to train algorithms"^[10]

Reality: "Currently" doing a lot of work here. No commitment to the future.

"You Control Your Data"

They say: "Users can delete faces anytime"

Reality: After we've already processed and stored them. Copies? Backups? Who knows.

🚔 The Police Connection Nobody Talks About

Ring's "Neighbors" app is a surveillance network:^[11]

Police request footage through the app
No warrant needed for "voluntary" sharing
Geofence requests for area footage
Now they can request face matches

Your helpful neighborhood watch is actually a police surveillance grid.

October 2025: Ring partnered with [Flock Safety so police can request doorbell footage](/articles/surveillance/flock-safety-20-billion-scans-ice-access) through Flock's platform. Your Ring now feeds the same network that scans 20 billion license plates monthly and gives ICE backdoor access.

Real Examples:

2020: Protest footage shared with police nationwide
2021: Ring gave footage without owner consent (emergency requests)
2023: 11 videos given without warrants^[12]
2025: Face matching capability added

⚖️ The Legal Shitstorm Coming

Senator Ed Markey's Warning

Called it "a dramatic expansion of surveillance technology" with "vast new privacy and civil liberties risks."^[13]

Demanding Amazon answer:

Legal basis for non-consensual collection
Data sharing with law enforcement
AI training plans
Why avoiding specific states

Lawsuits Loading...

Class actions forming in California, New York
EFF preparing litigation - "huge legal risk"^[14]
State AGs investigating in multiple jurisdictions
ACLU mobilizing against non-consensual scanning

🛡️ How to Protect Yourself (And Others)

If You Own a Ring:

Don't enable Familiar Faces when it launches
Check settings monthly - they change defaults
Disable law enforcement cooperation:
- Control Center → Privacy Settings
- Turn off "Public Safety"
- Disable video requests
Set minimum retention (3 days if possible)
Consider switching to non-cloud cameras

If You're a Delivery Driver:

Wear sunglasses and hat
Mask still helps (for now)
Angle face away from cameras
Report to your union if you have one
Document which houses have Ring

For Everyone:

Support local facial recognition bans
Pressure Amazon to require consent
Choose alternatives when possible
Warn others about the feature

🔄 Better Alternatives Exist

Local-Only Options

Ubiquiti UniFi: Self-hosted, no cloud
Reolink: Local storage options
Eufy: On-device processing (mostly)

Privacy-Focused

Arlo: End-to-end encryption option
Logitech Circle: Apple HomeKit Secure Video
DIY: Raspberry Pi + MotionEye

Old School

Regular doorbell (revolutionary!)
Peephole (works offline!)
Actually answering door (human contact!)

📅 What Happens Next

December 2025

Familiar Faces launches
Mass data collection begins
First non-consensual scans
Customer backlash peaks

Q1 2026

First lawsuits filed
State investigations expand
Police integration "testing"
Feature creep begins

Long Term

Federal regulation attempts
More state bans
AI training "experiments"
Full police integration

🌐 The Bigger Picture

This isn't just about Ring. It's the model:

Launch product without controversial feature
Get massive install base (20 million homes)
Add surveillance features later
Make it "opt-out" eventually
Share with law enforcement
Profit from surveillance capitalism

Google Nest did it. Apple might. Every smart device follows this playbook.

✊ How to Fight Back

Individual Actions:

☐ Cancel Ring subscription before December
☐ Leave negative reviews mentioning privacy
☐ Switch to local-storage alternatives
☐ Warn neighbors about the feature
☐ Document if you're scanned without consent

Collective Resistance:

☐ Join class action lawsuits
☐ Support EFF/ACLU challenges
☐ Pressure local government for bans
☐ Organize delivery driver unions to resist
☐ Demand federal biometric privacy law

💰 The Money Behind the Surveillance

Why Amazon really wants your face:

$31.5 billion: Ring's parent company (Amazon) AI investment^[15]
Insurance partnerships: Share data, reduce premiums
Retail tracking: Know who shops where
Ad targeting: Visitor profiles = marketing gold
Government contracts: Surveillance as a service

You're not the customer. You're the product. So is everyone who walks by.

🎯 The Bottom Line

Amazon turned 20 million doorbells into facial recognition scanners. No consent required unless you live where they'd get sued.

Every delivery driver, every visitor, every kid selling cookies - all getting their faces stolen and stored.

The feature is "off by default" - until it isn't. The data "isn't used for AI training" - currently.

Your doorbell is now a corporate surveillance node. Act accordingly.

Flock Safety: Ring's New Surveillance Partner - In October 2025, Ring partnered with Flock to let police request doorbell footage
How to Defeat Facial Recognition - Protecting yourself from camera surveillance
Smart Home Surveillance Risks - How connected devices track you
Facial Recognition Bans in the US - Where biometric laws protect you