Amazon cancels Ring-Flock deal amid privacy backlash
The short version: Amazon backed off plans to feed Ring doorbell footage into Flock's police network after public backlash, a rare win worth watching closely.
Our Take
Credit to Straight Arrow for flagging this one: Amazon reportedly shelved its plan to pipe Ring doorbell video into Flock Safety's law enforcement network after privacy advocates and everyday users pushed back hard. That backlash mattered. It's proof that when people understand what's actually being built — a nationwide web connecting the camera on your porch to a company that sells surveillance access to police departments — they don't like it.
But let's not pop the champagne yet. Flock doesn't need Ring to keep expanding. It's already blanketing towns with its own ALPR cameras, often installed with little public debate and even less oversight. Ring backing out of one specific integration doesn't slow Flock's core business: harvesting plate scans, timestamps, and location data on ordinary drivers and handing that pipeline to thousands of agencies, sometimes with murky rules about who else gets to see it.
The real lesson here is that public pressure works, so keep applying it. Check our map to see what's already watching your street, and if you want to push back on a proposal in your town, our take-action page has the tools to help you do it.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of Straight Arrow, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.