Ring camera founder announces new privacy measures amid Flock surveillance concerns
The short version: Ring's founder touts new privacy tweaks on CBS Mornings just as public anger over Flock's ALPR network boils over, but one company's PR move doesn't fix a surveillance ecosystem.
Our Take
Jamie Siminoff showing up on CBS Mornings to talk privacy is notable mostly for the timing. Ring built its business on a doorbell-camera-to-police pipeline, and now that Flock Safety's license plate readers are drawing national scrutiny, suddenly the camera guy wants to talk safeguards. Credit to CBS Mornings for getting him on record, but we'd remind readers that a press-friendly announcement is not the same as an audited policy change, and Ring has walked back "privacy" promises before.
The bigger issue is that Ring and Flock are two pieces of the same puzzle. Doorbell cameras capture faces and porches; Flock's ALPRs capture travel patterns block by block, often without the owner's neighbors ever consenting to be filmed. Put them together and you get a de facto tracking grid stitched out of private hardware and law enforcement data requests, with almost none of the oversight that would apply to a government program built from scratch. Any reassurance from one manufacturer doesn't touch the thousands of Flock units already logging plates nationwide.
If you want to know what's actually watching your street, don't wait on a corporate blog post — check the map to see nearby ALPR locations, and use our take-action guide if you want to push back on a camera near you.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of CBS Mornings, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.