A NEW FEATURE COMING SOON FOR RING CAMERAS INCLUDES FACIAL RECOGNITION WITHOUT PERMISSION
Well, this isn’t a positive development. But it’s not even remotely surprising. Biometrics are handy for many things. You probably open your phone with your face, your computer with your thumb, maybe your car, high-end banking… The list goes on and on. But most people use biometrics every day and don’t think much about it. Yet Big Brother loves this data. And that means the hybrid big brother of multiple governments and multiple multinationals LOVES this data. But that data isn’t so great for privacy, anywhere. So it’s really not a positive development to hear that Amazon’s Ring security camera has a new feature coming soon for facial recognition. And there’s no way for you to block permission walking up to someone’s front door.
JUST WALKING BY SOMEONE’S HOME COULD GET YOUR FACE RECORDED FOR DISSEMINATION
If that doesn’t make sense, think of it this way. In the states where it’s allowed to use facial recognition tracking and data sharing without permission, anywhere you are identifiable in front of a Ring camera will be tracked and recorded. So even if you have been very careful to not be recorded and have your facial biometrics on file anywhere, that will be but a mere memory just by walking by a Ring camera; not even necessarily walking up to the door itself. So not only will you be tracked, your facial biometrics will soon be out of your control. That’s the opposite of privacy. And not having a say in the matter is the antithesis of liberty.
Related:
EVEN SCARIER? AMAZON ALREADY WORKS CLOSELY WITH A COMPANY WITH TIES TO ICE
But it gets even more concerning. Because Amazon already shares data from their Ring cameras with law enforcement agencies. And even worse, Amazon has a cozy arrangement with a company that works closely with ICE. So your cleaning lady, babysitter, elderly caregiver, landscapers, friends, other contractors- all of them will be at risk if they don’t have status or are just mis-identified because they aren’t classic Aryan. We already know how poorly facial recognition technology works in identifying darker skinned people in general. In some states Amazon will have to turn off this facial recognition feature, which ostensibly is just to identify “favorite faces.” But not all states….
This is another giant reason why we need a federal law protecting everyone’s biometric privacy.
