SAN FRANCISCO, June 2 (Reuters) - Amazon ( AMZN ) was

sued on Monday by a Virginia resident over what he said were

privacy violations after the company's Ring doorbell cameras at

friends and family members' homes collected and stored images of

his face using facial recognition software.

The plaintiff, Charles Sigwalt, who is seeking class-action

status, sued Amazon ( AMZN ) in federal court in Seattle alleging a

feature known as "Familiar Faces" retains images of passersby

without their consent. He is seeking at least $5 million in

damages for the class.

Familiar Faces, which is optional, uses artificial

intelligence to identify and remember people so that when they

return to a home or a business, notifications can include

specific names.

Those affected "did not consent to have their privacy rights

violated at the entrance way," according to the suit. "Millions

of other Americans passed by a Ring security camera and

unknowingly had their facial recognition information collected."

Amazon ( AMZN ) declined to comment.

The suit, which seeks unspecified damages for those

impacted, is just the latest in a string of controversies around

Amazon's ( AMZN ) Ring, the unit that makes the eponymous smart doorbells

and security systems.

Ring, which Amazon ( AMZN ) bought in 2018 for $1 billion, in February

faced a backlash over a service that it advertised during the

Super Bowl that it said helps people find lost dogs by

activating its neighborhood network of cameras. Users and

privacy advocates were concerned the cameras could be deployed

to surveil whole neighborhoods or areas.

Following the criticism, Ring in February ended an unrelated

partnership with Flock Safety, which deploys license plate

readers and cameras for law enforcement use.

In 2023, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission reached a $5.8

million settlement with Ring over privacy allegations that it

said included a former employee spying on female customers in

their home bedrooms and bathrooms.

The FTC said Ring employees had unrestricted access to

customers' sensitive video data, allowing them and contractors

to view and download it. Amazon ( AMZN ) denied any wrongdoing as part of

the settlement.

U.S. Democratic Senator Ed Markey alleged in 2022 that Ring

violated people's privacy through its partnerships with law

enforcement, allowing them access to some user footage without

proper consent.

In the suit filed on Monday, Sigwalt said Amazon's ( AMZN ) "conduct here

represents a profound privacy failure for millions of people who

are now being tracked by Amazon ( AMZN )."