Amazon: 17 new technologies to help your doorbell spy …
Amazon has registered 17 new patents for biometric technology intended to help its “Smart” doorbell cameras identify people “suspicious” of smell, skin texture, fingerprints, eyes, voice and gait.
The tech giant has been developing its smart home doorbell security camera system since 2018, when Amazon acquired the company called Ring and, with it, the original technology. According to media reports, Jeff Bezos' company is now setting up the system to allow him to identify "suspicious" people with the help of biometric technology, based on skin structure, gait, finger, voice, retina, iris and even smell. . Furthermore, according to what the patents read, all the cameras of the Ring doorbells in a given neighborhood would be interconnected, sharing data with each other and creating a composite image of the “suspicious” individuals. Virtually the entire neighborhood would be alerted to approaching suspicious people. Goodbye privacy, in the name of safety.
Aside from possible future interconnectivity between Ring devices themselves, Amazon's doorbell cameras are already exchanging information with 1,963 police districts and 383 fire stations in the United States, according to Business Insider. The authorities don't even need a warrant to access Ring's footage.
These technologies would transform the areas where Ring is used into ultra-high surveillance areas, where privacy is wiped out. This isn't the first time the tech giant has been criticized for its surveillance technologies, even within its own ranks. Last year, in a letter to Amazon's management, software engineer Max Eliaser lashed out at the company's surveillance network, describing it as "not compatible with a free society."
Following media reports of a possible biometrics-based technology in Ring doorbells, Amazon sought to allay these concerns by assuring Business Insider that “Ring has no facial recognition technology or biometrics in any of its devices or services. Patents filed or granted do not necessarily reflect products and services under development ".
Despite these claims the smart doorbell cameras have already presented some of its owners with legal problems. For example, earlier this year, a UK court ruled that the doorbell camera installed by an Oxfordshire plumber had "unduly invaded" her neighbor's privacy, capturing unauthorized video and audio recordings. The judge branded "the extent of the range to which these devices can capture audio" as not "reasonable for the purpose for which the devices are used by the defendant". As a result, the defendant is now facing a hefty fine, while Amazon has advised all users of the Ring doorbell to "respect the privacy of their neighbors and comply with all applicable laws when using their Ring product." Why does Amazon itself not prepare a technology that cannot invade the privacy of its neighbors, instead of giving complex instructions to users? Ah, mystery …
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The Amazon article : 17 new technologies to help your doorbell spy… comes from ScenariEconomici.it .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/amazon-17-nuove-tecnologie-per-aiutare-il-proprio-campanello-a-spiare/ on Sun, 19 Dec 2021 14:30:14 +0000.