Amazon-owned Ring has denied its security cameras and Video Doorbells share footage with immigration enforcement officials in the United States, amid renewed scrutiny of its partnership with a controversial surveillance company.
Ring announced an agreement with the AI company Flock back in October last year as part of a Community Requests tools. The idea is that, via the Ring Neighbours app, law enforcement can request footage from users when they feel it may be pertinent to an investigation. The Community Requests are opt-in, rather than Ring duplicitously sending footage to the Feds.
However, Flock has been in the news for reportedly partnering with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. Given the heightened tensions in cities across the nation, it’s little surprise that activists and influencers are advising Ring owners to not be Ring owners anymore. For Ring part, it has denied it shares anything with ICE and says the previously-announced arrangement with Flock is yet to go live.
“Ring has no partnership with ICE, does not give ICE videos, feeds, or back-end access, and does not share video with them,” Yassi Yarger told The Verge. “As we explore the integration, we will ensure the feature is built for the use of local public safety agencies only — which is what the program is designed for.”
As The Verge points out, that once users agree to share the footage with law enforcement agencies, Ring doesn’t have much say anyway. Concerned? To be safe, you can disable the Community requests by opening the Ring Neighbours app, heading to Neighbourhood Settings > Feed Settings and unchecking Community Requests. Then at least you know for sure that you’re not aiding the unspeakable.
