Amazon Ring Video Handed To Police Without Users Consent Sparks “Surveillance Crisis Of Accountability”

While people purchase Ring cameras on Amazon and mount them on their front doors to keep their homes safe, law enforcement agencies use them without the user’s permission, according to a press release published by Sen. Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts).

The heading of the press release reads, “Senator Markey’s Probe Into Amazon Ring Reveals New Privacy Problem,” highlighting the alarming access to “the close relationship between Ring and law enforcement, including the proliferation of policing agencies on the Ring platform.”

Ring, which Amazon bought in 2018, responded to Markey’s June letter and said law enforcement partnerships on its platform had jumped a staggering five-fold increase since November 2019. The electronic doorbell company further revealed footage was handed over to police eleven times this year without the user’s consent – under a so-called “emergency circumstance exception.” 

“As my ongoing investigation into Amazon illustrates, it has become increasingly difficult for the public to move, assemble, and converse in public without being tracked and recorded,” Markey said. – READ MORE