Amazon's Ring ending video-sharing program with police
The short version: CNN reports Ring is killing its police video-request tool, a win for doorbell-camera owners, but the bigger ALPR dragnet from Flock Safety keeps expanding unchecked.
Our Take
Credit to CNN for flagging this one: Amazon's Ring is shutting down the Request for Assistance feature that let police departments ping users directly and ask them to hand over doorbell footage. That tool was controversial for years because it blurred the line between voluntary sharing and a de facto surveillance request pipeline, and its end is a genuine, if narrow, win for people who just wanted a camera on their porch, not a standing invitation for cops to fish through their driveway footage.
But don't mistake this for Amazon getting out of the surveillance-sharing business, and definitely don't mistake it for the broader problem going away. Ring cameras are opt-in and owner-controlled; Flock Safety's automated license plate readers are bolted to poles on public roads, running 24/7, logging every car that passes whether you asked for it or not. That data doesn't require a knock on your door — it's already sitting in a database that hundreds of agencies can query, often with little oversight and even less public notice.
So cheer this small retreat, but keep your eyes on the real growth industry in mass surveillance. Check our camera map to see what's tracking your plates right now, and hit take-action for concrete steps to push back on the systems that don't ask for your permission at all.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of CNN, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.