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Credit to Author: Andrew Couts| Date: Wed, 24 Jan 2024 23:41:00 +0000<\/strong><\/p>\n Andrew Couts<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Ring, the Amazon-owned home surveillance company known for its long history<\/a> of partnering with police<\/a>, announced today that it plans to shut down a controversial tool that allows law enforcement to ask users to share their footage without first obtaining a warrant.<\/p>\n In a press release<\/a> announcing its decision, Ring says it will begin \u201csunsetting\u201d its Request for Assistance (RFA) tool, which allows police to post requests for user surveillance footage to the company\u2019s Neighbors app. Civil liberties advocates are praising the move, but some warn that the very presence of home surveillance cameras<\/a> continues to pose a risk to privacy and fuel police overreach.<\/p>\n Matthew Guariglia, a senior policy analyst at civil liberties nonprofit the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said in a statement that the shutdown of the RFA tool was a \u201cmove in the right direction,\u201d but he cautioned that it follows \u201cyears of cozy relationships with police and irresponsible handling of data (for which they reached a settlement with the FTC<\/a>).\u201d He added that Ring could do more to protect the rights of community members subjected to Ring surveillance cameras, such as enabling end-to-end encryption by default.<\/p>\n Although Ring says the RFA tool will no longer be available starting next week, there are several other ways police can access Ring users\u2019 surveillance footage without obtaining a warrant. First, Ring spokesperson Yassi Yarger tells WIRED that the company will also continue to provide law enforcement with user information \u201con an emergency basis when there is an imminent danger of death or serious physical injury, such as a kidnapping or an attempted murder.\u201d Second, officers can directly ask users for their footage\u2014just not using the RFA feature.<\/p>\n \u201cIf customers want to engage with public safety agencies to share information, they can connect directly with their local agencies outside of the app,\u201d Yarger says. \u201cRing will no longer offer a customer-facing feature that facilitates video sharing between Ring customers and law enforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n Controversy over Ring\u2019s relationship with law enforcement stems from its police partnership program, first revealed in a CNET investigation<\/a> in June 2019. For years, Ring worked with police to sell discounted devices, some of which were subsidized with taxpayer funds, and frequently pressured<\/a> police departments<\/a> to follow company talking points.<\/p>\n The program appeared to be highly successful<\/a>. A December 2019 Gizmodo investigation<\/a> that mapped Ring\u2019s surveillance network using metadata from videos posted to the Neighbors app found that cities around the United States were blanketed by Ring cameras, subjecting residents to widespread surveillance. The<\/em> Washington Post<\/em><\/a> found that Ring had partnered with more than 400 police departments in the US as of August 2019\u2014a figure that rose to more than 2,100 by July 2022, according to a letter<\/a> Ring sent to US senator Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, who has introduced legislation that attempts to place limits on corporate-run surveillance networks like Ring\u2019s. Yarger, the Ring spokesperson, did not say whether the company will maintain its partnership program with police but noted that \u201claw enforcement will continue to be able to use the Neighbors Public Safety Service (NPSS) to post helpful information to their community residents.\u201d<\/p>\n