Amazon’s Ring pulls out of surveillance partnership

Amazon-owned smart doorbell company Ring has ended its planned partnership with police surveillance firm Flock Safety, following renewed public debate over privacy and monitoring technologies.

The decision came days after a Super Bowl advertisement by Ring triggered criticism online.

The commercial showed a lost dog being found through a network of neighbourhood cameras, leading some viewers to raise concerns about how such technology could be used to track people. 

Ring later said the feature shown in the ad, called “Search Party,” had no connection to Flock Safety and was not the reason behind ending the partnership.

Ring said the collaboration was cancelled after both companies reviewed the project and concluded it would require far more time and resources than expected. 

The company stressed that the integration was never launched and that no customer video footage was shared with Flock.

Flock Safety also confirmed that it never received any Ring user data. 

The company said the decision was mutual and would allow both sides to focus on their own services. 

Flock added that it remains committed to providing tools for law enforcement that comply with local laws and policies.

Flock Safety operates one of the largest automated license plate reader networks in the United States, with cameras installed in thousands of communities and billions of images collected each month. 

The firm has faced criticism in the past amid tougher immigration enforcement, though it says it does not directly work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and has paused earlier pilot projects with border and homeland security units.
Privacy concerns around Ring have grown again after the Super Bowl ad, which used artificial intelligence to trace the dog’s movement through a neighbourhood. 

Critics warned on social media that similar technology could be used to monitor residents without their consent.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation said Americans should be worried about the gradual loss of privacy, noting that Ring already offers facial recognition through its “Familiar Faces” feature.

US Senator Edward Markey also weighed in, urging Andrew Jassy to end the use of facial recognition tools. 

He said the strong reaction to the commercial showed growing public opposition to constant surveillance and invasive image-tracking technology.