Amazon's Ring Tweaks Transparency Feature to Make Police Requests Public

Public safety agencies like police and fire departments will have to seek Amazon.com Inc’s AMZN camera unit, Ring, user video footage through a new, publicly viewable type of post on the Neighbors app, Ring said in a blog.

What Happened: Amazon launched Ring in 2018, a smart security device company whose video doorbell product allows users to see and record their doorstep visitors.

Previously, the police would send private messages from the app to the Ring device owners.

Over 2000 U.S. agencies have subscribed to the video request program, Bloomberg reports. Lawmakers and civil rights groups had raised privacy and racial profiling concerns over Ring, which was further intensified by Ring’s partnerships with U.S. law enforcement agencies.

Ring was working with independent third-party experts in 2020 to find ways to elaborate on the police’s use of the Ring technology.

Ring’s expanding hardware lineup extends to floodlights, window sensors, and a nascent drone capable of zooming around the house when it hears something inappropriate.

Ring terminated employees for customer data and password breach. Ring turned on greater password protection by default in 2020. It rolled out end-to-end encryption of customer videos in Jan.

Why It Matters: Ring’s new “Request for Assistance” feature in the Neighbors app will roll out next week.

No information will be shared with agencies without users’ discretion. Only verified agency profiles can send requests, and the request history will be logged online for user monitoring.

Police departments will have to specify a time frame of 12 hours or less for the videos. The requests will be limited to users within a geographic area of half a square mile. Public agencies will be unable to alter or delete such requests.

Ring users opting out of receiving police video requests will have the ability despite the change. Legally binding demands for Ring user data will be unaffected by the change.

Price action: AMZN shares traded lower by 1.09% at $3,198.85 on the last check Thursday.