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Government Privacy United States Technology

Amazon Told Police It Has Partnered With 200 Law Enforcement Agencies (vice.com) 83

Posted by msmash from the growing-footprint dept.
At least 200 law enforcement agencies around the country have entered into partnerships with Amazon's home surveillance company Ring, according to an email obtained by Motherboard via public record request. From a report: Ring has never disclosed the exact number of partnerships that it maintains with law enforcement. However, the company has partnered with at least 200 law enforcement agencies, according to notes taken by a police officer during a Ring webinar, which he emailed to himself in April. It's possible that the number of partnerships has changed since the day the email was sent. The officer who sent the email told Motherboard that the email was a transcribed version of handwritten notes that he took during a team webinar with a Ring representative on April 9. Additional emails obtained by Motherboard indicate that this webinar trained officers on how to use the "Law Enforcement Neighborhood Portal." This portal allows local police to see a map with the approximate locations of all Ring cameras in a neighborhood, and request footage directly from camera owners. Owners need to consent, but police do not need a warrant to ask for footage.
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Amazon Told Police It Has Partnered With 200 Law Enforcement Agencies More

Amazon Told Police It Has Partnered With 200 Law Enforcement Agencies

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  • Obviously the public needs to make sure its opt-in vs opt-out but I would like to see more information on how they are using it. This reminds me more of neighbor watch which I don't particularly mind.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Sharing video with law enforcement is opt-in, and the owner must grant permission to share any particular video.

      The privacy/personal freedom concerns are more about the owners though, less so than law enforcement. Neighbors who don't appreciate your brown friends can report suspicious behavior to the police, and anonymously send them video of the person walking on the sidewalk in front of their house.

    • Yea, I just want to know the numbers on how many of these customers were even aware they "gave consent."

  • my town is one of those (Score:5, Insightful)

    by PhantomHarlock ( 189617 ) on Monday July 29, 2019 @03:01PM (#59007342)

    My small town is one of the cities participating in the Ring program. The PD blitzed all the local facebook groups and the local newspaper with an offer for a steeply discounted Ring doorbell camera. As far as I can tell a lot of people signed up for it. People will easily accept 'free' without thinking about what comes along with it.

    • how exactly does it deny you freedom? it's for catching scum like package thieves and other burglars

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Anonymous Coward

        If you think that's all it will be used for, you're even dumber than the people who bought it from Amazon.

        I know people like you can't perceive future threats, but perhaps you should start working on that skill before the next wave of people you disagree with use it to silence, blackmail, and intimidate you.

        Also, what good is freedom if you're forbidden from expressing it without constant fear of judgement? Would you want others having a live YouTube feed to your latest political ramblings while drunk? How

        • "How about them knowing about the details of every web search you made? Or better yet, all of the porn you watch?"
           
          If you use the internet, this is already being done. You guys get so upset about friggen security cameras.

    • Did you blitz the FB groups warning people about the privacy risks of signing up? Citizens should always push back against pigs.

      • What "privacy risks" are you referring to?

    • People will easily accept 'free' without thinking about what comes along with it.

      They sure do. Gmail. "Apps".

  • WOW, they don't need a warrant to ask? Whodathunk? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 29, 2019 @03:15PM (#59007416)

    That's a super-informative summary. Here I thought the police needed a warrant before they could ask if you want to _voluntarily_ provide footage from your camera that might help them solve a crime. I could have never imagined such a high level of government overreach could possibly exist. Warrentless "asking." This type of invasive behavior must be stopped.

  • Owners need to consent, but police do not need a warrant to ask for footage.

    That is horrible writing. It can be parsed as "Owners are required to consent to letting police see the footage." If a competent writer or editor had reviewed that, it would read more like: Police hope that camera owners will be compliant and give them the footage so that they don't have to go through the work to get a warrant for it.

    That's a bit more honest.

    And the second part of the sentence? Why does it even exist? Of course police can ask for anything under the sun without a warrant. You're just not required to give it to them.

  • From Texas governor Abbott:
    "...that the cameras are costly, 'pose constitutional issues' and 'Texas should ban the use of these devices.'"

    Read more here: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article230697554.html#storylink=cpy

  • So much for that (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Kargan ( 250092 ) on Monday July 29, 2019 @03:43PM (#59007678) Homepage

    Any notions I may have had of picking one of these up have been thoroughly quashed by all of the recent news about the partnerships between law enforcement and Amazon.

    >Owners need to consent

    Yeah, maybe for now....

    • Re: So much for that (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      It'll be like your right to consent to a voluntary search of your car. If you deny it they will detain you until they get the warrant, because denying a search is probably cause, and turn your whole house upside down.

      Your best course of action is to ignore their calls and don't open the door when they knock.

  • This is scary as fuck (Score:5, Insightful)

    by BytePusher ( 209961 ) on Monday July 29, 2019 @04:05PM (#59007836) Homepage
    I see a lot of people on here saying there's nothing to worry about. But this is how Amazon becomes your local government/police force. Sure, you and your neighbors can deny the police what they want, but it will be exactly like denying police permission to search your car. Denial becomes probable cause, a search warrant is issued and suddenly your whole home is turned inside out. Want some privacy at your cookout where your friends might smoke weed? Too bad, your neighbors caught it on Ring and now you are going to jail for running a drug house. The police are not our friends. Companies that are helping the police are not our friends. Your neighbors who help Amazon help the police are not our friends. Fucking Christ, we're living at the cusp of 1984 and a god damn tech website that used to promote privacy and online freedom is full of shills telling us not to worry.

    • What? Denial becomes probable cause and a search warrant is issued? If that happens, that is the least of your worries. And yeah, get over yourself, no one cares about your weed. You guys get upset over the wrong things. 1984 already happened and you don't even know it.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by mea2214 ( 935585 )
        FTFY

        And yeah, get over yourself, no one cares about your weed if you're white

      • You must have never encountered the system. Comments like this really show the naivety.

        Weed laws have relaxed in (some) states but the same crooks that would have gladly ruined someone's life over an joint not 10 years ago are still working there, are still the same people, and are still running the system. Even in the most liberal states, if they don't like you they will use parallel construction to get in your house. Have a few too many ounces? That makes you a trafficker. Have kids in the house? Child En
  • If you have a video camera, or any other medium/device that police believe may contain evidence relating to a crime then the police (via warrant) can obtain it without your consent. If you had a family member who was stabbed outside a house that had a Ring camera then damn right you would expect the police to obtain that footage, whether or not the homeowner wanted to cooperate. Moreover, police can require any business (eg Amazon) to co-operate with their enquiries. If Amazon have the technical ability

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