In the U.S., around
30% of households have installed some sort of
surveillance camera to their front door, often in the form of a 'doorbell camera.' The goal, of course, is to protect their homes' security.
But with major brand Ring - owned by Amazon - introducing
more AI features and teaming up with law enforcement agencies, people around the country are terrified of how this technology might be misused.
Sign the petition to demand U.S. cities and states take action to stop this, now!Things got especially uncomfortable after
a recent Ring commercial that aired during the Super Bowl, one of the biggest sports events of the year in the U.S. In the ad, a family's beloved pet dog goes missing, leaving their child heartbroken. Then,
a whole network of neighborhood surveillance equipment - Ring cameras attached to people's front doors - gets enlisted, and they finally find the dog.
This feature is a new AI-powered tracking system called "Search Party" - and it's automatically turned on. If customers don't want to use it, they have to specifically alter their system settings to "opt out."Senator Ed Markey
summarized the commercial well:
"This definitely isn't about dogs -- it's about mass surveillance."He wasn't the only one to sense the creepy undertones. People across the country took to social media to condemn
the risks of this technology - especially how law enforcement is using this data to track immigrants, Black and Brown people, and activists. Destroying previously-installed Ring cameras, to promote personal and community privacy, has become a
viral trend.
And they're right to be concerned. Ring already has active partnerships with Flock and Axon, two additional
surveillance companies that work with police. Ring is even
partnering with U.S. law enforcement. Through its so-called 'Community Requests tool,' police can submit requests for neighborhood Ring camera footage. And, once these videos are in police possession, they can be
forwarded to ICE.Ring isn't even effective at the thing it was promoting during the commercial - supposedly, finding pets. The ad states that 10 million pets wind up missing each year. It claims its mass surveillance tool will save the day and make neighbors 'heroes.' But in the actual ad itself, Ring admits its cameras only find 365 lost dogs a year. That's an abysmal success rate. So what is this really about?
Sign the petition to demand that individual U.S. cities and states intervene to stop Ring from using home security systems to transform into mass police and ICE surveillance equipment!