Amazon Ring cameras may be able to detect people by their smell, according to new patents filed by the company.
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Ring's internet-connected doorbells will be able to scan neighborhoods and identify "suspicious" people based on their skin texture, gait and voices.
The cameras don't feature facial recognition, but the company has 17 patents for features that use the technology.
One patent, Insider reports, is a “Neighborhood Alert Mode” that could send a notification to other neighbors after a user shares a photo or video of someone found suspicious – even if the person hasn’t gotten around to ringing their doorbell.
The biometric information mentioned includes palm, finger, retina, iris, skin texture, typing, gait, voice, and “smell recognition.” Skin and smell recognition will likely require new sensors or hardware.
This could create a series of images on the board for activity taking place in the fields of view of multiple cameras for situations like “a guy was walking around the neighborhood asking about a lost dog” and “watching” the residents.
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Another patent, filed in March of this year, states that pressing a doorbell will start audio and video recording, while being capable of “fingerprint recognition, eye recognition, voice recognition, and facial recognition.”
Amazon told Insider: "Ring does not feature facial recognition technology or biometrics in any of its devices or services. Patents filed or granted do not necessarily reflect products and services in development.".
This year, a person using a doorbell was found to have “unreasonably intruded” on his neighbor’s privacy by using the device.
Amazon said customers should "respect the privacy of their neighbors and comply with any applicable laws when using the Ring device.".
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Amazon's Ring service has been criticized in the past for developing a private surveillance network. In 2019, it was found to have partnered with more than 400 police forces across the United States, with Ring providing training to police to get users to hand over their footage.
Source of information: independent.co.uk
