Amazon gave your Ring footage to police without asking you. At least 11 times in 2022 alone -- no warrant, no consent, no notification. Two thousand police departments partner with Ring. Cops can request footage from any Ring camera in a neighbourhood through the app. Senator Markey's investigation found Ring had "no policies to prohibit police from keeping video data forever." The EFF calls it "the largest civilian surveillance network in US history." You bought a doorbell camera. Amazon built a police surveillance network out of it. You're the customer, the camera operator, and the unwitting surveillance infrastructure. Eleven times without asking. Two thousand police departments with access. Your doorbell is a police camera you bought, installed, and pay monthly for. Ring Neighbors sends you an alert: "Suspicious activity in your area." You feel unsafe. You buy another Ring camera. That camera captures a delivery worker. Someone posts the footage: "Suspicious person." The delivery worker is Black. Research shows crime alert apps increase fear more than crime actually justifies. Studies of Neighbors content found disproportionate targeting of Black people, brown people, and delivery workers. The app creates fear. Fear sells cameras. Cameras capture people. People get profiled. The cycle feeds itself. Ring Neighbors doesn't reduce crime. It sells the feeling of crime to people who buy cameras in response. Amazon profits from every turn of the anxiety wheel: the fear, the camera, the subscription, and the footage it gives to police.
What they claim: Ring Neighbors is marketed as keeping communities safe by allowing neighbours to share security footage and crime alerts.
What we found: Amazon disclosed in July 2022 that it had given Ring camera footage to law enforcement at least 11 times without user consent or a warrant -- responding to what Amazon deemed "emergency requests." Over 2,000 police departments across the US had formal partnerships with Ring, allowing officers to request footage from any Ring user in a geographic area through the Neighbors app. Users receive police requests in the app and can decline, but the social pressure of a law enforcement request -- combined with the crime-focused framing of the app -- encourages compliance. Senator Ed Markey's investigation found Ring had "no policies to prohibit police from keeping Ring user video data forever." The EFF called Ring Neighbors "the largest civilian surveillance network in US history." Amazon built a surveillance network, sold the cameras, gave footage to police without warrants, and partnered with 2,000 police departments. The doorbell camera company built a panopticon.
What they claim: Ring Neighbors sends users crime alerts and safety notifications, helping communities stay informed about local security concerns.
What we found: Ring Neighbors' alert system is designed to create fear. Crime alerts, suspicious activity reports, and package theft notifications create a perception that neighbourhoods are more dangerous than crime data actually shows. This perceived danger drives more Ring camera purchases -- a self-reinforcing cycle where the surveillance app sells more surveillance hardware. Research has shown that neighbourhood crime alert apps increase fear of crime disproportionately to actual crime rates. Studies of Neighbors app content found that alerts disproportionately target Black and brown people, delivery workers, and anyone perceived as "not belonging." Users post footage of Black men walking through neighbourhoods with captions like "suspicious person." Ring's community surveillance reproduces and amplifies the same racial profiling patterns that have plagued neighbourhood watch programmes. The app that promised safety delivers anxiety, racial profiling, and more camera sales.