Ring Cameras Deepen Ties with Law Enforcement
▼ Summary
– Amazon is partnering with Flock Safety to allow approximately 5,000 local law enforcement agencies to request access to Ring camera footage through Flock’s surveillance platforms.
– Ring users can view these requests anonymously and choose to submit footage, which Flock then securely packages and shares with the requesting agency.
– US Senator Ron Wyden revealed that federal agencies including ICE, the Secret Service, and the US Navy have had access to Flock’s license plate camera footage.
Amazon’s Ring is expanding its collaboration with law enforcement, enabling thousands of police departments to directly request video footage through Flock Safety’s surveillance platforms. This integration allows officers to post alerts in the Ring Neighbors app, detailing investigations and asking residents to voluntarily share relevant recordings. Requests must specify the incident’s location, time frame, and an official case number, with users able to review these appeals anonymously before deciding whether to participate.
Flock Safety’s software will securely bundle any submitted footage and transfer it directly to the requesting agency via its FlockOS or Flock Nova systems. The company indicates this feature will become available to its law enforcement users within the next few months. While framed as a tool for community assistance, the partnership has intensified longstanding worries about privacy and surveillance overreach, especially given Flock’s existing ties to federal authorities.
Beyond this new software integration, Flock is widely recognized for its automated license plate recognition (ALPR) cameras. The company’s client base spans roughly 6,000 neighborhoods and 1,000 businesses, in addition to numerous police departments. Flock’s systems also enable searches based on visual descriptors, such as “person wearing a red jacket”, raising additional questions about tracking and identification.
Privacy advocates have repeatedly expressed alarm over the proliferation of these technologies. Recent disclosures confirm that federal bodies including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Secret Service, and the Navy’s Criminal Investigative Service have utilized Flock’s ALPR data. In a formal letter to Flock’s CEO, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden highlighted these relationships, pressing for greater transparency about data access and retention policies. The ongoing integration between Ring and Flock suggests these privacy debates are far from settled.
(Source: Ars Technica)
