Amazon's Ring has partnerships with over 400 US police forces

[nanoguy]

The big picture: Ring has revealed how many partnerships it has already built with law enforcement agencies in the US. The arrangements are equally beneficial for both the police, who can now have access to a growing surveillance network that is self-maintained by its users, and Ring who gets some free advertising as a result.

Earlier this month, news broke that Amazon was aiding police in gaining access to Ring doorbell camera footage for use in their investigations. Many privacy advocates criticized the move, but the company defended its practices by explaining that it only shares the video content after receiving a valid and binding legal demand from authorities. The police argued that users know what they're getting into and that this isn't a violation of Fourth Amendment rights.

Now we know from Ring itself that it has already built video-sharing partnerships with more than 400 police forces across the country. The Amazon-owned doorbell camera company calls this the "new neighborhood watch," but an expert told the Washington Post that a more fitting description would be "a clever workaround for the development of a wholly new surveillance network."

Technically speaking, the partnerships let the police make specific requests for Ring to hand over video recorded by homeowners' cameras in a given time frame and area whenever they need help in their investigations. They don't get access to live video, and users are notified every time new enforcement agencies sign up to join the Neighbors Portal through the dedicated app. Owners of the Ring cameras can also report crimes and law enforcement can engage with communities by providing a stream of information about crime and safety events.

The ACLU took to Twitter to express its views on the development, saying that "Amazon’s Ring has created a massive face recognition surveillance network, easily accessible to hundreds of police departments. Big Brother is watching - right at our front doors."

It's worth noting that users can deny the requests and opt out of receiving them by mail or in the Neighbors app. As always, such services could invite abuse that would affect innocent people, but Ring says it was careful in crafting the Neighbors program so that "users always stay in control of the information they share and that their privacy is protected."

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https://www.techspot.com/news/81657-amazon-ring-has-partnerships-over-400-us-police.html

 

[Uncle Al]

My ring just went into the trash can .... from what they claim, there is NO guarantee they won't be recording me and turn me in whenever they feel they can. Sorry Ring, but you are violating my 4th amendment rights and no I NEVER gave you permission to do so.

 

[psycros]

"But..but..they said dey wouldn' do dat!"

 

[VitalyT]

Ring says it was careful in crafting the Neighbors program so that "users always stay in control of the information they share and that their privacy is protected."

...as per the 200-page user agreement, the infamous cop-out...

What Ring's User Agreement really tells you, between the lines, is that while they pull you and your privacy on, if you behave well, they might throw in some free lube.

 

[QuantumPhysics]

My Kimber .45 and my AR-15 have a faster response time than my local police.

The criminal's recidivism rate is a solid 0%.

 

[Danny101]

Might as well put a badge on it.

 

[dangh]

Seems like a 2nd China. Monitoring all the time, in cctv we trust...

 

[DukeJukem]

One day they're just going to make skynet a real thing like terminator genisys. I guarantee it.

 

[rub900]

Amazon sucks.

 

[jtveg]

My Kimber .45 and my AR-15 have a faster response time than my local police.

The criminal's recidivism rate is a solid 0%.

In a similar way so too are cheating husbands (when the wife owns a gun).

I pity the fool that thinks the solution to criminals trying to break into your home is to arm every household with guns.

I mean look how well it's worked out so far.

The highest murder rate of any 1st world nation. School shootings every other month. Most people are shot by someone they know. How many crimes are prevented by civilians with handguns. A negligible few.

Ironically, letting the police use "Ring" video in legitimate cases would actually be a very productive and useful investigative tool.

What is there to worry about anyway? I mean what kind of weird things are you or your visitors doing when they ring your doorbell?
[CENTER] [/CENTER]

 

[captaincranky]

My Kimber .45 and my AR-15 have a faster response time than my local police.

The criminal's recidivism rate is a solid 0%.

I prithee tell us, who have you shot and killed recently? Or have you merely stunned them with your endless bragging, then bored them to death with your perpetual self aggrandizement?

 

[jtveg]

I prithee tell us, who have you shot and killed recently? Or have you merely stunned them with your endless bragging, then bored them to death with your perpetual self aggrandizement?

Obviously I haven't killed anyone nor do I think it is some kind of virtue as you imply.

Although as you have discovered my method of boring criminals, con men, door to door salesmen, Jehovah Witnesses etc seems to be very effective.

 

[captaincranky]

Obviously I haven't killed anyone nor do I think it is some kind of virtue as you imply.

Although as you have discovered my method of boring criminals, con men, door to door salesmen, Jehovah Witnesses etc seems to be very effective.

Do you have dual memberships? Since I wasn't quoting you in the first place,.

CODA, Sorry, I missed the sarcasm. Although Jehovah's Witnesses aren't an issue for me. I open the door, they see I'm white, and immediately realize they can't reason with me.

Or possibly they don't care to expend the effort to try and save me, since I am white, and they'd rather see me rot in hell.

 

[jtveg]

Do you have dual memberships? Since I wasn't quoting you in the first place,.

Sorry, I got the notification and didn't look at the name. I thought I was replying to "Quantum physics"

My bad.

 

[captaincranky]

Sorry, I got the notification and didn't look at the name. I thought I was replying to "Quantum physics"

My bad.

You should probably wait a few minutes or so before you quote one of my posts. Since for all intents and purposes, when I hit "post reply", that's just a first thought, and for better or worse, ( sometimes unfortunately), there's a lot more from whence that came.