TL;DR: Every year, privacy and consumer advocates tour CES to identify the worst privacy-invading gadgets. CES 2026's "winners" include: Amazon Ring's expanded surveillance features (now with AI facial recognition and a third-party app store), the Lepro Ami "AI soulmate" desk companion with an always-on camera tracking your eyes, and a Merach treadmill that admits it can't guarantee your biometric data is secure. The EFF's Cindy Cohn called Ring out for "doubling down on privacy invasion." Welcome to the future.
The "Awards" Nobody Wants
The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is where tech companies show off their latest innovations. It's also where organizations like the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and iFixit tour the floor to find the products most likely to spy on you, fail you, or become landfill.
They call it "Worst in Show." And CES 2026 delivered some real horrors.
"Worst in Privacy": Amazon Ring
EFF Executive Director Cindy Cohn didn't mince words: Amazon Ring is "doubling down on privacy invasion."
Ring, already a privacy nightmare, unveiled several new features at CES 2026 that made things worse:
- AI Unusual Event Alerts: Ring cameras now use AI to detect "unusual" events. What counts as unusual? Ring decides. The feature likely involves facial recognition to distinguish between "expected" and "unexpected" people at your door.
- Ring Appstore: Ring is opening a third-party app store for its cameras. Random developers can now build apps that access your Ring camera feed. EFF warned this could enable "sketchier apps" with even less accountability.
- Always-On Facial Recognition: Ring already offers facial recognition. CES 2026 confirmed it's becoming more central to the product.
There's one silver lining: Ring's most invasive AI features are disabled in jurisdictions with stronger privacy laws: Illinois, Texas, Portland (Oregon), and Quebec. If you live elsewhere, you get the full surveillance package.
Ring's cameras are networked to local police departments across America. Every "upgrade" to Ring surveillance is effectively an upgrade to police surveillance of neighborhoods.
"People's Choice" for Worst: The AI Soulmate
The Lepro Ami won both a "Worst in Show" designation and the "People's Choice" award. That's impressive in the worst way.
The Ami is a desk-mounted device marketed as an "AI soulmate" to combat loneliness for remote workers. It has:
- An always-on camera
- Eye-tracking technology that follows your gaze
- Always-on microphone
- "Soulmate" AI that learns your behavior and "connects" with you
Lepro markets it as your companion. Privacy advocates see it as a surveillance device marketed to lonely people.
The device does have a physical camera shutter, so you can cover the lens when you don't want to be watched. But the marketing emphasizes "always-on" functionality. The product only works as intended if it's constantly watching and listening.
What happens to all that behavioral data? What does Lepro do with recordings of your face, your eye movements, your voice? The privacy policy is... unclear.
The Treadmill That Can't Protect You
Merach showed off an AI-powered treadmill that adjusts workouts based on your biometric data. Heart rate. Movement patterns. Fitness metrics.
The problem? Merach's privacy policy explicitly states: "We cannot guarantee the security of your data."
That's not paraphrasing. That's what they say. Use our product, give us your biometric data, and we can't promise it won't end up on the dark web.
Biometric data is forever. Your fingerprint doesn't change. Your heart rate patterns are unique to you. Unlike a password, you can't reset your body. Once biometric data leaks, the damage is permanent.
A company selling a biometric-collecting device should at minimum pretend to take security seriously. Merach couldn't even manage that.
The Fridge That Watches What You Eat
Samsung's Bespoke AI Family Hub refrigerator uses computer vision to track everything inside. It sees what food you have. It knows when you're running low on milk. It logs what you eat.
Samsung pitches this as convenience. Make shopping lists automatically! Get recipe suggestions based on ingredients!
Privacy advocates ask: why does Samsung need to know everything you eat? What do they do with that data? Who do they share it with?
Health insurance companies would love to know your dietary habits. Advertisers would love to target you based on what's in your fridge. Samsung's privacy policy determines whether that happens, and most people never read the privacy policy of their refrigerator.
Facial Recognition in Everything
Beyond the "winners," CES 2026 showed facial recognition spreading to products you wouldn't expect:
Smart Locks
Ultraloq and Desloc showed door locks with 3D facial recognition. Your face is literally the key to your home.
Car Dashboards
BOE's HERO 2.0 "intelligent cockpit" features high-precision facial recognition. Your car knows who's driving.
Pet Water Dispensers
Petkit's cat water fountain uses machine learning facial recognition to track which cat is drinking. Yes, really.
Smart Doorbells
SwitchBot's new smart deadbolt adds 3D structured light facial recognition to their lineup.
The pattern is clear: facial recognition is becoming default in consumer electronics. Every device with a camera is becoming a biometric surveillance device.
The Industry's Response: "Trust Us"
Not everyone at CES was showcasing surveillance. Samsung hosted a panel called "In Tech We Trust? Rethinking Security & Privacy in the AI Age."
Their pitch: "trust-by-design." Build AI that keeps data on-device. Be transparent about what's collected. Give users control.
It's the right message. But it's also a marketing message from a company selling refrigerators that watch you eat. The gap between privacy messaging and privacy practice remains enormous.
Tech companies have learned that consumers care about privacy. They haven't necessarily learned to respect it, just to sound like they do.
What You Can Do
Research Before Buying
Look up the privacy policy before purchasing smart devices. If a company can't guarantee data security, that's a red flag.
Avoid Biometric Devices When Possible
A regular dumbbell works without collecting your heart rate. A standard door key doesn't scan your face. Simple alternatives exist.
Check for Privacy Law Restrictions
If a feature is disabled in Illinois or the EU, that's often because privacy regulators found problems. Consider it a warning.
Use Physical Covers
Camera shutters, microphone blockers, and power switches give you control that software settings don't.
The Bottom Line
CES 2026 is a preview of where consumer technology is heading. The trends:
- More cameras everywhere
- More facial recognition by default
- More AI analyzing your behavior
- More devices that "can't guarantee" security
- More companies treating your data as their product
The "Worst in Show" awards highlight the extremes. But the surveillance creep is industry-wide. Every connected device is a potential surveillance device. Every camera is a potential biometric collector.
The choices you make about what devices you bring into your home matter more than ever. Because the industry has made its choice: collect everything, secure nothing, monetize everywhere.