Letter Text (PDF)

Washington (October 31, 2025) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, led a letter to Amazon’s Chief Executive Officer Andrew Jassy, requesting that Amazon abandon its plans to integrate facial recognition technology (FRT) into its Ring doorbells. The integration of FRT would allow Amazon to collect biometric data on all individuals who appear in front of a Ring doorbell camera, without the consent of those who were unknowingly captured on video. This dramatic expansion of surveillance technology is a serious threat to the public’s privacy.

In the letter, Senator Markey writes, “Although Amazon stated that Ring doorbell owners must opt in to activate the new facial recognition feature, that safeguard does not extend to individuals who are unknowingly captured on video by a Ring doorbell camera. These individuals never receive notice, let alone the opportunity to opt in or out of having their face scanned and logged in a database using FRT. To put it plainly, Amazon’s system forces non-consenting bystanders into a biometric database without their knowledge or consent. This is an unacceptable privacy violation.”

Senator Markey continues, “This announcement represents a dramatic expansion of surveillance technology, creating vast new privacy and civil liberties risks. Americans should not have to fear being tracked and recorded while visiting a friend’s home or walking past a neighbor’s house. Amazon should reconsider this decision and abandon its plans to deploy FRT into its Ring doorbells.”

Senator Markey requests information from Amazon on the use of facial recognition technology in its ring doorbells by November 21, 2025, including:

1. Please detail Amazon’s Ring FRT privacy practices:
   1. How will Ring obtain informed consent from every individual whose biometric data is captured by its devices, including passersby, delivery workers, and guests?
   2. How long will Amazon retain biometric data and what policies govern its deletion?
   3. Are Ring owners and all those subjected to video recording, voice recording and facial recognition able to formally request that Amazon delete their data?
2. Please describe how Amazon will mitigate harmful biases and discrimination often prevalent when using facial recognition technology:
   1. Does Amazon test Ring’s FRT across different demographic groups, including accuracy rates and potential biases? If so, does Amazon publicly disclose those results?
   2. What steps has Amazon taken to ensure Ring’s biometric technologies do not disproportionately harm communities of color, immigrants, or other vulnerable populations?
3. Please describe Amazon’s policies for sharing facial recognition and biometric data with law enforcement:
   1. Does Amazon share biometric data — including any outputs of facial recognition use collected by Ring doorbells — either voluntarily or in response to legal process, with law enforcement agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)?
   2. Can law enforcement request access to Ring doorbell live streams from Amazon? If so, does Amazon share live stream access with law enforcement agencies, including DHS, either voluntarily or in response to legal process?

In 2019, Senator Markey sent two letters to Amazon, raising concerns about Ring’s partnership with over 400 police departments and Amazon’s alarming disregard for basic privacy protections. In 2022, Senator Markey sent a follow up letter to Amazon, highlighting the company's ongoing privacy violations and unchecked data sharing with police departments.

###