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Privacy United States Technology

Doorbell-Camera Firm Ring Has Partnered With 400 Police Forces, Extending Surveillance Reach (washingtonpost.com) 223

The doorbell-camera company Ring has quietly forged video-sharing partnerships with more than 400 police forces across the United States, granting them access to homeowners' camera footage and a powerful role in what the company calls America's "new neighborhood watch." The Washington Post: The partnerships let police automatically request the video recorded by homeowners' cameras within a specific time and area, helping officers see footage from the company's millions of Internet-connected cameras installed nationwide, the company said. Officers don't receive ongoing or live-video access, and homeowners can decline the requests, which Ring sends via email thanking them for "making your neighborhood a safer place." The number of police deals, which has not previously been reported, will likely fuel broader questions about privacy, surveillance and the expanding reach of tech giants and local police. The rapid growth of the program, which launched last spring, surprised some civil-liberties advocates, who believed fewer than 300 agencies had signed on.

Ring is owned by Amazon, which bought the firm last year for more than $800 million, financial filings show. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos also owns The Washington Post. Ring officials and law-enforcement partners portray the vast camera network as an irrepressible shield for American neighborhoods, saying it can assist police investigators and protect homes from criminals, intruders and thieves. "The mission has always been making the neighborhood safer," said Eric Kuhn, the general manager of Neighbors, Ring's crime-focused companion app. "We've had a lot of success in terms of deterring crime and solving crimes that would otherwise not be solved as quickly."

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Doorbell-Camera Firm Ring Has Partnered With 400 Police Forces, Extending Surveillance Reach

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  • by jellomizer ( 103300 ) on Wednesday August 28, 2019 @09:52AM (#59132782)

    While you can Opt-out there isn't a nice hard switch to prevent methods for law enforcement to spy on you that may not necessarily be legal, or at least admissible in court.
    Just think how the NSA rather easily got the Telecom companies to share their records to them a decade ago. Where they gathered who called possible terrorist, and who they called and who called them. So many Pizza delivery guys were probably being watched because they wanted to ask for directions.

    Say Ring had fallen under the pressure of law enforcement then had your doorbell track every time you left your home and when you returned. They notice that every other Thursday that you come home from work 2 hours later then normal.

    Now the police can say track you on where you went to work on Thursday, then follow you after normal working hours to see if you are doing anything odd. Say traveling to a neighborhood where lower income people live. So you now a suspect in a possible drug bust, while you were just volunteering your time with meals on wheels.

    Sure you may not get arrested, but the police will be eyeing you to see if you commit a crime. You are not charged for a crime, or even suspected on doing a crime, however you are being watched because you in a free country may be doing something out of the ordinary, that others in your community may not be doing.

    • by gtall ( 79522 )

      Stop dreaming, the cops do not have the manpower to watch your precious self and everyone like you. They wait until they have some indication of a crime and then grep the available sources. Mind you, I do not think it is a good idea for people to invade the privacy of others with those cameras. On the other hand, crime isn't something to be trifled with if you have a family to protect.

      • by jellomizer ( 103300 ) on Wednesday August 28, 2019 @10:20AM (#59132872)

        While I agree that I am probably much too boring of an individual to be watched. However, there has been cases where people who had been vocal against the police, or just happened to piss off the wrong politician. In general have been under increased surveillance by the police, just because they did something that got their attention, not necessarily connected to anything wrong, but just because they angered a person in power.

        The issue with these Cloud based services, is that there isn't a switch that I can be sure the data isn't leaving. Gone is the idea of the Home Server Appliance. where if I just don't hook it up to the internet I get nearly all the functionality without the privacy.

        Your argument is on the same vane as If you are innocent then you shouldn't worry about being spied on.

      • While I agree the police do not have the manpower, is it such a stretch to believe at some point in the near future an AI system might? China seems to be moving quickly there with their "social score" system. How long before someone in the US decides it might be useful to come up with a "terrorist probability score" or a "mass shooter score"? The police already have license plate readers in many cruisers quietly gathering data.
        • Hate to break it to you, but those scores already exist, and have for decades. There are companies dedicated to gathering information about people and scoring them. Mostly credit scoring and insurance companies, but other data brokers. I'm always amazed that people don't know this. Insurance companies look at things like your social media posts for example.

          • Insurance companies look at things like your social media posts for example.

            Yet another reason not to be on Facebook...or other social media.

            • Unless you're a terrorist or shooter. Then it's pretty much mandatory to be on there and post pics of puppies and rainbows to lower your score.

      • Ok, let's assume that they have some indication of a crime. Maybe because I happened to misdial a number and end up at some sleeper cell that way. What now?

    • Why people who use the internet and mobile phones are so upset about Ring I'll never understand. Is there something special about video that scares people?

    • The secret police in the former East Germany, the Stasi would have loved to have these things.

      In fact, if they did have these things back in the late 80's . . . we would still have an East Germany today.

      If King George had these back during the American Revolution . . . the Queen of England could suspend Congress today, if she felt like it.

      • secret police has been around for thousands of years

      • by dryeo ( 100693 )

        Do really think that King George would have acquired all kinds of powers because of Ring? I guess the same is true of the American President, who currently has way more real power then the King of England has had since the Stuarts, and one of those lost his head and another was simply fired for trying to suspend Parliament in both cases..

  • by turp182 ( 1020263 ) on Wednesday August 28, 2019 @09:56AM (#59132790) Journal

    From TFA: Officers donâ(TM)t receive ongoing or live-video access, and homeowners can decline the requests, which Ring sends via email thanking them for âoemaking your neighborhood a safer place.â

    I'm cool with this. I live in an urban area and we have crime, mostly property (car break-ins, GTA, package theft). But someone was shot and killed on the corner of our block last winter. Still no suspect.

    I'm planning on putting a couple of cameras outside, front door and alley on the garage. I will register with the police as well.

    My dashcam has resulted in some tickets as well (dashcam is awesome, everyone should have one).

    • This commenter is part of the problem. This resident fearing urban life lives in and by means of taxes support urban crime and blight for the city, who cannot provide the single responsibility of governments world wide, safe streets. Giving power to city police forces to monitor you neighbor does not give the police more information about crime, they know the criminals by first name without surveillance cameras. Requesting the local gentry actually enforce all local laws for the criminal element befo
      • This commenter is part of the problem. He assumes that there is enough police manpower to monitor every urban street, and wishes to deny the city police forces to monitor neighborhoods because he thinks the police magically know all the criminals by first name.

      • This is opt in. You can choose not to share video.

        Over 20 years as an urban resident here.

        How many times have you had a murder occur about 100 feet from your front door? One time here.

        How many times have you had a car broken into. Four here (with no valuables in the cars).

        How many times have you had grand theft auto on friends car's while visiting? Two for me (both Jeeps).

        How many times have you had a Breaking and Entering with Theft at a property you owned (it was being rented, we were all in the backy

    • As a bonus, many cities will pay for your cameras. Don't listen to the idiots here who moan about "privacy". These cameras are dfesigned to take video of burglars and package thieves. No one cares if a Ring camera videos you picking your nose walking down the street.

      • And body cameras were designed in order to document crimes as well. Interesting how many police officers can turn theirs off when they want privacy.

        • That's interesting. How many? You seem to know every police officer on the planet!

          • I know several police officers. Including the ones who talk about how their night went and then laugh about how they 'forgot to turn it back on after leaving the bathroom, oops!".

  • by Somervillain ( 4719341 ) on Wednesday August 28, 2019 @10:26AM (#59132894)
    This is generally good. Everything is opt-in. However, I live in a dense urban area. When my neighbor across the street gets a ring, they can now spy on me and monitor everything that happens on my doorstep and the front of my house. Now the police have access to surveillance footage of my house I didn't authorize and had no knowledge was actually being captured.

    Do I care? No...I don't commit crimes and I don't have a mistress. However, if you do anything illegal or anything you don't want a divorce lawyer seeing, you should give it second thoughts. Remember, even if what you're doing is legal or doesn't fit the standards for a conviction, do you want your neighbor making accusations and showing the video? Even if you have a prescription for that joint, do you want that mentally ill old person with the crazy eyes and "interesting" theories about Obama's deep dark hidden motivation going around with video accusing you of being a junkie?


    How long before a neighbor extorts you? ...sees you parking illegally and threatens to send footage to the police?...sees a member of the opposite sex enter your house and threatens to e-mail your spouse? ...sees your kid smoking weed and threatens to send footage to law enforcement? I have lived in big cities my entire adult life and on every block, there's always at least 1 person who is nuts enough to spread crazy (usually racist) rumors about someone they don't like on the block. With unregulated social media and HD footage, I get pretty nervous. I already have seen several people submitting ring footage to Nextdoor.com of dog owners not cleaning up after their pets and other trivial grievances. I dread where this could go.

    Sounds like a mafia scam waiting to happen...buy a house near someone powerful or famous, install every hidden camera you can legally install, record all footage, waiting to find something to extort them with. I have a few people on my block who have grudges with their neighbors (city people are insane) who I could easily see doing something shitty like this if it were made convenient enough.

    To be clear, I like the police partnership. It's a good thing when not abused. Making it easier to catch dangerous criminals is huge. I want every violent offender to be paranoid and never feel safe. However, I do fear what happens when a mentally ill neighbor tries to use the footage for shady purposes.
    • I hate to break it to you, but you don't need to "authorize" surveillance footage of your house. I know. Shocker. I can stand on the sidewalk and take pictures of your house without permission. I know...shocking! The only thing shocking is that Slashdotters think that security cameras were recently invented (by Ring I guess).

  • "We've had a lot of success in terms of deterring crime and solving crimes that would otherwise not be solved as quickly."

    Cool. So what is a lot of success? Where's the data? What's the trade-off here?

    • Many cities provide data on that. Example: https://ovsjg.dc.gov/sites/def... [dc.gov]

      • by Nexus7 ( 2919 )

        Hmmm... that is data for private security cameras, which is a more general category that doorbell cameras. And it doesn't say anything about how effective they were - if they played any role in solving crime.

        I'm interested in the trade-off between giving them access to data from a private device and the reduction in crime. Or deterrence in crime.

        • Um, it is #7 on that document: "The number of times that footage from a private security camera contributed to a
          successful arrest by MPD, including a breakdown by offense.
          There was one arrest made in a homicide case and one arrest was made in a murder
          case in which video footage was extracted from a security camera owned by a
          program participant. MPD detectives may have viewed footage that was obtained
          directly from the program participants without that information being specifically
          tracked."

          How would

          • by Nexus7 ( 2919 )

            OK, I thought the document you posted had that info, not the document summarized by the document you posted.

            As for deterrent effect, you can't know directly, but they have numbers for crime before cameras and crime after. Some of the reduction could reasonably be attributed to cameras.

  • I'm not too sure I'm against this. I am all for securing personal liberty, yes I am... but I'm also very much for:

    1. Knowing and possibly identifying the cockroaches that visit us every dump day. Y'know, the shady AF guys in the beater white pickup that's 80% rust and collect all manner of stuff. Way I see them, they're always casing the neighborhood.

    2. Knowing who's knocking on my door when i'm not home. Why? Because burglars often do that to verify vacant / not vacant home. Could be ADT guy. Coul

    • But what if the Ring captured video of you carrying your groceries up the steps? PRIVACY!!! By the way, I own a Ring but don't recommend it for technical reasons. It doesn't work too well. Read the reviews. I found the Blink cameras work better.

      • But what if the Ring captured video of you carrying your groceries up the steps? PRIVACY!!! By the way, I own a Ring but don't recommend it for technical reasons. It doesn't work too well. Read the reviews. I found the Blink cameras work better.

        Pfft. By the time somoene gets to the Ring footage (would only show me driving my car into the garage, I never use my own front door) the LPR cameras my city has deployed just about every intersection will show my shitbox going about its day, the credit card machines know I was just a the grocer's, and the alarm knows I just disarmed it and opened garage door.

        It's almost like idiocracy already, if they want to know where you're at, they'll know it. We had a vicious robber take out a business when I was wo

  • Not only is big brother here, but it's being paid by the people being spied upon.

  • When these police departments partner with Ring they agree to release no public statement that isn't pre-approved by Ring. And in some cases Ring is the one writing the releases themselves.
    '
    Think about this...a business dictating what law enforcement says.

    This is every bad Hollywood movie cliche from 'small town sheriff controlled by factory owner' to OCP in Robocop.

  • Everyone on here is talking about privacy. First, if you are out in the open you have no expectation of privacy. Anyone and everyone can see you and your actions.

    More importantly, the only reason these cameras exist is because people are criminals. It's the same reason we have laws against murder, robbery, and rape. Because people murder, rob, and rape. If people wouldn't do those things, there wouldn't be a need for a law.

    Same here. Don't be a criminal and the reason for the cameras disappear. But then

    • I agree! If people stopped being criminals, nobody would buy security cameras. Before cameras, people started using outdoor lamps to deter criminal activity. Criminal behavior is creating multiple businesses rfid tags, metal detectors, security cameras, alarm systems, x-ray scanners, backscatter scanners, security guards, razor wired fences, drug testing, etc. Security businesses will flourish as long as people misbehave.
  • I know I already commented, but just thought of this...

    If the footage from my Ring is used in a criminal trial...can I be subpoenaed? I can see a lot of defense lawyers using this tactic. Suddenly you have a whole city block of people being questioned. The defense then could ask for all footage taken by the cameras. Which would open another whole can of worms.

    Defense attorney - "So the police arrested my client, yet here is footage of two other crimes being committed by people living on that very block. Why

    • Yes you can be subpoenaed for video taken by your mobile phone camera or dashcam too. Are you having trouble conceptualizing what a camera is? Attorneys have been subpoenaed camera footage for decades.

      • Which in both cases you'd be aware of what was going on. With the Ring you are given no indication the footage is being looked at or even being used in an investigation. The police are not contacting the house owner and give them a statement saying, "Hey, we looked at this footage this month." Which, IMHO, is something they should be required to do.

        Notice I said 'defense' lawyers. Implying this footage was already submitted by the police as evidence. Evidence you have no clue you can now be subpoenaed to te

  • homeowners can decline the requests

    This is important. So long as they are Not denied or reduced in important services if they refuse or otherwise pressured to accept the requests.

    will likely fuel broader questions about privacy, surveillance and the expanding reach of tech giants and local police.

    ONLY questions, not reasonable objections, as Surveillance with consent of the property owner Is (1) For their benefit, and (2) Not a bad thing.

    Despite some possible risks that do come from surveillan

  • Right now Ring asks the owner for "permission" to share. The fact of the matter is Ring owns 1) The IP that recorded and encoded the data, and 2) The storage the data sits on. The data is in the hands of a third party. And even if it were determined that they don't somehow own it, buried within the TOS are clauses giving them perpetual license to sell, gift, give, re-use, edit, and splice the data in any way they see fit.

    Right now they ask. Once people are use to sharing with law enforcement, that wil
    • I'm really shocked by people on Slashdot. Do you think that Ring doesn't make interior cameras? They make a full line, just like 100s of other vendors. It is like you guys are just learning that cameras exist, or security cameras exist, or cloud based video exists. I thought Slashdot readers were supposed to be knowledgeable about tech stuff.

    • by Nidi62 ( 1525137 )

      Just wait until Ring starts shucking cameras for *inside* the house.

      They already do [ring.com].

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • ...I'd love to get free/reduced cost cameras. I'd happily point them all over my property and neighborhood.

    "But you'll be under surveillance!"

    I'm fine with that, thanks.

    It's NOT the "why would you be afraid if you don't commit crimes" thing, precisely.

    It's that I'm far more likely to get VALUE from being watched because I'm more likely to be a victim of a crime than a perpetrator (ie and if I'm a victim of crime, get better chances of positive resolution/prosecution).

God doesn't play dice. -- Albert Einstein

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