Ring Limits Doorbell Video Access
Ring (AMZN) rules the roost when it comes to home security cameras, with the largest share of the over 42m units that were sold last year. While not all were doorbell cameras, this increasingly popular device, wired or wireless, has been a popular item for many, with the ability to see who is at your door on your smartphone, regardless of whether you are home or not. This added safety is both a boon to the homeowner and to law enforcement, who can request doorbell camera footage during investigations. Ring itself has a ‘Neighbors by Ring’ network where the company has partnered with law enforcement to share videos, pictures, and texts about security and safety, however these relationships have also come under criticism from social justice groups citing an unfair targeting of communities of color.
A number of such groups have pushed for an end to partnerships with law enforcement, as when an agency makes a request for assistance, ring users within a certain distance of a particular incident are notified that law enforcement would like to receive footage from them. As before, users can opt out of all notifications or select which they would like to see or respond to, however under Ring’s new rules, the agency requests are limited to a certain number of requests over a specific time period, and must have a case number for an active investigation, the contact number for the case officer, and a timeframe between 15 minutes and 12 hours. Agencies are limited to two requests per incident and the requests are now limited to within 0.25 and 0.5 mi2 of the incident, and cannot be used to gather information about protests or other legal activities, and all of the posts must be shown on the agency’s profile in the Ring system.
If you decide to share your footage or photos with an agency, once it is downloaded agencies can keep it for as long as local laws allow, and your e-mail and home address are also shared with law enforcement, but as long as you don’t put your photos or footage on the Ring network or download to law enforcement, the only way law enforcement can access your footage would be with a warrant.. Roughly 10% of video doorbell users have stated that they have shared video with law enforcement and an additional 12% have indicated while they did not, but they had reason to do so, and according to Consumer Reports (non-profit), during the 4th quarter of last year Ring’s law enforcement partners made over 5,700 requests for video.
As noted many citizen’s rights groups do not feel that Ring has gone far enough to maintain reasonable security and avoid targeting certain user locations, but at least Ring has taken some steps to give consumers a bit more choice when it comes to their doorbell footage. As agencies are no longer allowed to send a request to a particular e-mail or street address, which many found intimidating, opting out of the program now not only ends individual requests, but ends all notifications. No numbers on how many have done so have been reported yet, but we expect the balance between communities to even out a bit even though you could always opt out of the whole program.
A number of such groups have pushed for an end to partnerships with law enforcement, as when an agency makes a request for assistance, ring users within a certain distance of a particular incident are notified that law enforcement would like to receive footage from them. As before, users can opt out of all notifications or select which they would like to see or respond to, however under Ring’s new rules, the agency requests are limited to a certain number of requests over a specific time period, and must have a case number for an active investigation, the contact number for the case officer, and a timeframe between 15 minutes and 12 hours. Agencies are limited to two requests per incident and the requests are now limited to within 0.25 and 0.5 mi2 of the incident, and cannot be used to gather information about protests or other legal activities, and all of the posts must be shown on the agency’s profile in the Ring system.
If you decide to share your footage or photos with an agency, once it is downloaded agencies can keep it for as long as local laws allow, and your e-mail and home address are also shared with law enforcement, but as long as you don’t put your photos or footage on the Ring network or download to law enforcement, the only way law enforcement can access your footage would be with a warrant.. Roughly 10% of video doorbell users have stated that they have shared video with law enforcement and an additional 12% have indicated while they did not, but they had reason to do so, and according to Consumer Reports (non-profit), during the 4th quarter of last year Ring’s law enforcement partners made over 5,700 requests for video.
As noted many citizen’s rights groups do not feel that Ring has gone far enough to maintain reasonable security and avoid targeting certain user locations, but at least Ring has taken some steps to give consumers a bit more choice when it comes to their doorbell footage. As agencies are no longer allowed to send a request to a particular e-mail or street address, which many found intimidating, opting out of the program now not only ends individual requests, but ends all notifications. No numbers on how many have done so have been reported yet, but we expect the balance between communities to even out a bit even though you could always opt out of the whole program.
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