For Owners of Amazon’s Ring Security Cameras, Strangers May Have Been Watching Too

ronjor · Jan 10, 2019

Sam Biddle January 10 2019

The “smart home” of the 21st century isn’t just supposed to be a monument to convenience, we’re told, but also to protection, a Tony Stark-like bubble of vigilant algorithms and internet-connected sensors working ceaselessly to watch over us. But for some who’ve welcomed in Amazon’s Ring security cameras, there have been more than just algorithms watching through the lens, according to sources alarmed by Ring’s dismal privacy practices.
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hawki · Feb 4, 2019

"How Ring & Rekognition Set the Stage for Consumer Generated Mass Surveillance

If every home on a street, in a neighborhood, or in a town had a Ring surveillance system, the individual cameras, taken together, could construct an extremely intimate picture of daily public life. By integrating facial recognition and contracting with local and federal law enforcement agencies, Amazon supercharges the potential for its massive network of surveillant consumers to comprehensively track the movements of individuals over time, even when the individual has not broken any law. Fully realized, these technologies set the stage for consumer generated mass surveillance..."

https://wjlta.com/2019/01/28/how-ri...age-for-consumer-generated-mass-surveillance/

guest · Feb 8, 2019

Amazon’s Home Security Company Is Turning Everyone Into Cops
February 7, 2019
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/...ecurity-company-is-turning-everyone-into-cops

Neighbors defines itself as a “new neighborhood watch,” according to its website. But on a more practical level, Neighbors is like NextDoor, a social platform for local communities, if the posts on NextDoor were only reports of crime or “suspicious activity.”

Neighbors is not just a social media app: it’s a service that’s meant to be used with Ring security cameras, a Wi-Fi-powered home security company that was acquired by Amazon last February in a $1 billion deal.

Beyond creating a "new neighborhood watch," Amazon and Ring are normalizing the use of video surveillance and pitting neighbors against each other.
In many ways, the Neighbors/Ring ecosystem is like a virtual gated community: people can opt themselves in by downloading the Neighbors app, and with a Ring camera, users can frame neighbors as a threat.
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guest · Feb 14, 2019

Amazon’s Home Surveillance Chief Declared War on “Criminals” as Company Got Closer to Police
Video and internal emails show how Amazon's Ring has blurred line between private innovation and public law enforcement
February 14, 2019
https://theintercept.com/2019/02/14/amazon-ring-police-surveillance/

On March 17, 2016, Ring CEO Jamie Siminoff emailed out a company-wide declaration of war.
The message, under the subject line “Going to war,” [...] the company’s new mission was to use consumer electronics to fight crime.

In other words, Ring’s cameras aren’t just for keeping tabs on your own stoop or garage — they work to create a private-sector security bubble around entire residential areas, a neighborhood watch for the era of the so-called smart home.
Not only does this portal allow police to view Ring customers on a handy, Google-powered map, but it also makes requesting customer surveillance video a matter of several clicks.

“in future versions we will also be enabling Ring’s smart search functionality that will allow for suspicious activity detection and person recognition.” What constitutes “suspicious activity” is anyone’s guess, as is how Ring will “detect” it.
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Even with the consent of owners, Cagle worries that the simple existence of a program like the Neighbors Portal threatens to blur, if not eliminate, the distinction between private-sector surveillance services and the government’s role as enforcer of the law.
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For Owners of Amazon’s Ring Security Cameras, Strangers May Have Been Watching Too

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