According to a fresh study by Motherboard, Amazon’s surveillance camera brand Ring has partnered with over 200 police agencies across the nation.
Ring has been commonly known to have worked with law enforcement: Motherboard recently reported on an agreement between the firm and a police department, and Amazon even used footage of suspected thieves to promote the products. But the news shows the scope of the business-police relationship.
Motherboard received Ring’s webinar notes from an agent. Ring allows policemen to request footage from owners through Ring, according to the notes. Although owners ‘ approval is allegedly needed by police, a warrant is not needed. (In a declaration, Ring said that any law enforcement applications must be linked to an active inquiry.) The notes state that 200 organizations are using the scheme. Ring stressed the point that police cannot access camera footage directly.
“Every decision we make at Ring centers around privacy, security and user control,” said a Ring spokesman in a declaration. ” While Law enforcement partners can submit video requests for users in a given area when investigating an active case, Ring facilitates these requests and user consent is required in order for any footage or information to be shared. Law enforcement cannot see how many Ring users received the request, declined to share or opted-out of all future requests.”