Home / Technology / Ring Dumps Flock Safety Amid Privacy Fears
Ring Dumps Flock Safety Amid Privacy Fears
13 Feb
Summary
- Ring has ended its partnership with Flock Safety, a police surveillance tech company.
- The decision follows a public backlash over a Ring Super Bowl ad depicting widespread surveillance.
- No Ring customer videos were shared with Flock Safety as the integration never launched.
Ring, the manufacturer of Amazon's smart doorbell, has announced the termination of its collaboration with Flock Safety, a firm focused on police surveillance technology. This "joint decision" follows a significant public backlash triggered by a recent Ring advertisement aired during the Super Bowl.
The advertisement featured a lost dog being located through a network of cameras, sparking widespread fears of a pervasive surveillance society. While this specific feature, known as Search Party, was unrelated to Flock, the controversy has amplified existing privacy concerns surrounding Ring's products.
Ring and Flock had previously announced plans for a partnership that would have allowed Ring camera owners to share video footage with law enforcement through a Ring feature called Community Requests. However, Ring stated that a comprehensive review determined the integration would require more time and resources than anticipated.
Furthermore, Ring products, such as the "Familiar Faces" feature which uses facial recognition, have drawn criticism from digital privacy advocates like the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Concerns have been raised about the potential for combining facial recognition with neighborhood search capabilities, leading to increased anxieties about personal privacy.
