Will a kind gesture towards users affect public safety?
Amazon, which owns the Ring home doorbell division, has announced that it will end the practice of providing police with access to recordings from users video cameras.
Next week, the company will deactivate the "Request For Assistance" tool, which allowed law enforcement agencies to request video footage from users on a voluntary basis, according to Eric Kuhn, head of Ring's Neighbors app.
However, the police or fire department will still be able to access the videos, only now you will need a warrant or proof of an emergency.
Ring spokesperson Yassi Yarger explained that the company decided to focus its resources on new products and features in the Neighbors app that fit the company's vision. New features announced on Wednesday, including" Ring Moments "for clip publishing and "Best of Ring," highlight this trend.
The move was a change of course for Ring, which since its founding and incorporation into Amazon has focused on improving public safety through surveillance. "Our mission to reduce neighborhood crime has always been at the heart of our business," said Jamie Siminov, founder of the company.
Amazon is following the lead of Google, which is also reducing law enforcement access to user data. Alphabet, which owns Google, last month announced a change to the location history feature in Google Maps, eliminating the ability for police to request data on all individuals in the vicinity of a crime scene.
Civil rights groups such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) have long criticized Ring for creating a residential surveillance network available at the request of police, and pointed to a history of biased police surveillance in the US.
"This is a step in the right direction, but it comes after years of close ties with the police and careless handling of data," said Matthew Guarilla, senior analyst at EFF.
Last year, Amazon agreed to pay $ 5.8 million to settle a complaint filed by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) accusing Ring of data privacy and security violations.
Guarilla expressed doubts that Ring and law enforcement will be able to properly assess what counts as an emergency, and noted that police will still be able to request Ring video footage without a warrant by simply knocking on a person's door.
Initially, when police departments requested videos from Ring's doorbells as part of an investigation, the company sent users emails asking them to voluntarily share the clips.
In 2021, Ring began requiring police and fire departments to make these requests publicly through the Neighbors app, which allows people to upload video footage and share information. However, such transparency has not lessened criticism, including from Senator Ed Markey, who denounced the "growing network of surveillance systems" created by Amazon and other technology companies.
Amazon Ring founder Jamie Siminov left the company last year. He was replaced by Liz Hamren, who previously worked at Discord, Microsoft and Meta. Hamren told the media last year that Ring is rethinking its mission, partly given the company's expanded portfolio of devices, which includes home monitoring and business services.
Amazon, which owns the Ring home doorbell division, has announced that it will end the practice of providing police with access to recordings from users video cameras.
Next week, the company will deactivate the "Request For Assistance" tool, which allowed law enforcement agencies to request video footage from users on a voluntary basis, according to Eric Kuhn, head of Ring's Neighbors app.
However, the police or fire department will still be able to access the videos, only now you will need a warrant or proof of an emergency.
Ring spokesperson Yassi Yarger explained that the company decided to focus its resources on new products and features in the Neighbors app that fit the company's vision. New features announced on Wednesday, including" Ring Moments "for clip publishing and "Best of Ring," highlight this trend.
The move was a change of course for Ring, which since its founding and incorporation into Amazon has focused on improving public safety through surveillance. "Our mission to reduce neighborhood crime has always been at the heart of our business," said Jamie Siminov, founder of the company.
Amazon is following the lead of Google, which is also reducing law enforcement access to user data. Alphabet, which owns Google, last month announced a change to the location history feature in Google Maps, eliminating the ability for police to request data on all individuals in the vicinity of a crime scene.
Civil rights groups such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) have long criticized Ring for creating a residential surveillance network available at the request of police, and pointed to a history of biased police surveillance in the US.
"This is a step in the right direction, but it comes after years of close ties with the police and careless handling of data," said Matthew Guarilla, senior analyst at EFF.
Last year, Amazon agreed to pay $ 5.8 million to settle a complaint filed by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) accusing Ring of data privacy and security violations.
Guarilla expressed doubts that Ring and law enforcement will be able to properly assess what counts as an emergency, and noted that police will still be able to request Ring video footage without a warrant by simply knocking on a person's door.
Initially, when police departments requested videos from Ring's doorbells as part of an investigation, the company sent users emails asking them to voluntarily share the clips.
In 2021, Ring began requiring police and fire departments to make these requests publicly through the Neighbors app, which allows people to upload video footage and share information. However, such transparency has not lessened criticism, including from Senator Ed Markey, who denounced the "growing network of surveillance systems" created by Amazon and other technology companies.
Amazon Ring founder Jamie Siminov left the company last year. He was replaced by Liz Hamren, who previously worked at Discord, Microsoft and Meta. Hamren told the media last year that Ring is rethinking its mission, partly given the company's expanded portfolio of devices, which includes home monitoring and business services.
