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Amazon-owned home security company Ring has partnered with Flock Safety, a company whose network of AI-assisted cameras is used by thousands of law enforcement agencies across the US—just weeks after announcing a similar tie-up with security firm Axon Enterprise.
The partnership will allow Ring camera owners to share footage that can assist in criminal investigations via Ring’s Neighbors app, making the video available to law enforcement agencies that use Flock’s software. The new Community Requests feature allows Ring owners to share information with authorities when a crime has been reported in the area and shared with Ring via the FlockOS and Flock Nova applications. Ring says that police requests must include a specific location and timeframe for the incident in question, as well as details about what is being investigated.
In the announcement, Amazon assured users that participation is optional and that public safety agencies can’t see who received a notification or who chose not to respond. You can even turn off Community Request notifications altogether if you prefer. Ring says law enforcement has already started making requests via the feature.
The partnership comes after a letter shared with 404 Media revealed that a division of ICE, the Secret Service, and the Navy’s Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) had access to Flock’s nationwide network of AI-enabled cameras. According to the letter sent by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., the division of ICE that had access performed nearly 200 searches in the system.
Wyden argued that Flock was uninterested in addressing potential abuse of its platform and said local governments should remove the cameras.
Amazon’s new partnership has already stirred up criticism from privacy advocates.
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“Of course people have a right to be safe, but what companies like Flock and Ring fail to acknowledge is that their technology doesn’t make people safer—it just subjects them to a round-the-clock warrantless digital dragnet that keeps tabs on everyone whether or not they’re suspected of any crime,” Electronic Frontier Foundation senior staff attorney Jennifer Pinsof told CNBC.
This isn’t the first time that attempts to integrate Ring with law enforcement infrastructure have been met with controversy. In January 2024, Amazon phased out Request for Assistance (RFA), a feature that was part of its Neighbors app that allowed law enforcement to “seek help” from neighbors to track down potential crimes. Though 2,000 police departments across the country were thought to have used the feature, it was dogged by accusations of racist comments and misuse among neighbors, and allegations that police used Ring footage to investigate protesters.
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I’m a reporter covering weekend news. Before joining PCMag in 2024, I picked up bylines in BBC News, The Guardian, The Times of London, The Daily Beast, Vice, Slate, Fast Company, The Evening Standard, The i, TechRadar, and Decrypt Media.
I’ve been a PC gamer since you had to install games from multiple CD-ROMs by hand. As a reporter, I’m passionate about the intersection of tech and human lives. I’ve covered everything from crypto scandals to the art world, as well as conspiracy theories, UK politics, and Russia and foreign affairs.
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