Law enforcement will soon have easier access to footage captured by Amazon Ring smart cameras. Under the partnership announced this week, Amazon will allow approximately 5,000 local law enforcement agencies to request access to Ring camera footage through surveillance platforms. Herd safety. Ring's collaboration with law enforcement and reports of the use of Flock technology by federal agencies, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), have again highlighted the privacy concerns that have plagued the devices for years.
According to Flock, its partnership with Ring allows local law enforcement officials to use Flock's software “to send a direct message to the Ring Neighbors app with investigative details and request volunteer assistance.” Requests must include “the specific location and timing of the incident, a unique investigation code and detailed information about what is being investigated,” and users can view requests anonymously, Flock said.
“Any footage a Ring customer chooses to submit will be securely packaged by Flock and delivered directly to the requesting local public safety agency via the FlockOS or Flock Nova platform,” the announcement states.
Flock said its local law enforcement users will have access to Ring community requests in the “coming months.”
Lots of privacy issues
Outside of its software platforms, Flock is known license plate recognition cameras. Flock clients can also search footage from Flock cameras using descriptors to find people, such as “man in blue shirt and cowboy hat.” In addition to law enforcement agencies, 6,000 communities and 1,000 businesses use their products, Flock said.
For years, privacy advocates have warned against companies like Flock.
This week, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) sent a letter [PDF] to Flock CEO Garrett Langley, who reported that ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Secret Service, and the U.S. Naval Criminal Investigative Service had access to footage from Flock's license plate cameras.
