A Ring security camera is displayed on a shelf at a Target store in Novato, California, on June 1, 2023.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
Ring is ending its partnership with police technology provider Flock Safety. AmazonThe company that owns it made the announcement Thursday.
Flock and Ring’s partnership gained attention after the Amazon doorbell company ran an ad during the Super Bowl promoting its “Search Party” feature, which uses AI to help find lost pets. When a user initiates the feature, a network of participating Ring cameras is activated and scans the footage for images similar to the missing dog. The Electronic Frontier Foundation called this feature a “surveillance nightmare.”
Flock, on the other hand, operates a network of automated license plate readers and sells access to its software to customers including law enforcement agencies.
Ring’s decision to end its partnership with Flock comes amid growing pressure for tech companies to reconsider their work with federal agencies such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Earlier this week, CNBC reported that Salesforce employees pressured CEO Marc Benioff to cancel “ICE Opportunities.” More than 900 Google employees also called on the company to divest from ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Privacy and civil liberties advocates called on Ring to end its partnership with Flock. A protest is planned in front of Amazon’s Seattle headquarters on Friday to call on the e-commerce company to sever ties with Flock, ICE and CBP.
“After a comprehensive review, we have determined that the planned Flock Safety integration will require significantly more time and resources than anticipated,” Ring wrote in a blog post. “As a result, we have taken the joint decision to cancel the planned integration.”
Representatives for Flock did not respond to requests for comment.
Amazon acquired Ring in 2018 for $839 million. The home security company is primarily known for its connected doorbell devices that can record video and alert users to activity around their home or business through an app.
Ring has long sparked privacy controversy due to its partnerships with law enforcement. The company had adopted a softer image in recent years, positioning its devices as tools for catching porch pirates and family-friendly criminals. Since founder Jamie Siminoff returned as CEO last year, the company has re-embraced its original mission of fighting crime.
Amazon announced a partnership with Flock last October to give owners of the company’s video doorbells the option to share footage with law enforcement agencies who use the company’s software to aid in “evidence collection and investigations.”
Flock’s systems are used by thousands of communities and law enforcement agencies across the country, and both ICE and CBP reportedly accessed Flock’s data as part of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. Flock denied sharing data with ICE or any “sub-agency” of the Department of Homeland Security.
Ring spokeswoman Emma Daniels said in a statement that the partnership with Flock was never active and the companies have not announced a start date for the partnership.
“No video was ever shared between these services,” Daniels said.
In response to intense scrutiny of the company’s Search Party tool, Daniels said Ring built the feature “with strong privacy protections from the beginning.” Ring users can decide on a case-by-case basis whether to share videos with pet owners who have started search parties, she said.
The news was earlier reported by The Verge.
