Ring will no longer allow police to request doorbell camera footage from users

Our Take

KING 5 Seattle's report on Ring ending police requests for doorbell footage is a small but real win for the idea that your camera shouldn't double as a subpoena-free extension of law enforcement. For years, Ring's "Request for Assistance" tool let cops blast out footage requests to entire neighborhoods, no warrant required, turning private porches into an informal precinct network. Killing that pipeline matters, and credit to KING 5 for covering it.

But don't mistake this for surveillance retreating. Ring's walk-back is about one company's PR problem, not a policy shift across the industry. Meanwhile, Flock Safety is quietly building the exact thing Ring is backing away from — a always-on, cop-accessible camera grid, except it's reading your license plate instead of asking politely for your Ring clip. The mechanism is different, the outcome is the same: constant location tracking with minimal oversight and murky data-sharing across jurisdictions.

If Ring pulling back is worth a headline, Flock's expansion deserves at least as much scrutiny — arguably more, since it's harder to opt out of a plate reader than a doorbell app. Check our map to see what's actually watching your street, and hit up take action if you want to push back on it locally.