Kalamazoo And Portage Police Team Up With Amazon Ring
Does our expectation of privacy at home disappear in Kalamazoo and Portage because of this partnership?
It's easy to see how this partnership can really help fight crime and catch the bad guys. Law Enforcement will be able to use an app to access video and audio from Ring Doorbell users in an area that a crime took place to help an investigation. However, it doesn't sound like they need a warrant for the footage. What's stopping police from monitoring Amazon Ring footage of any of us?
Ring says customers have a choice. They can opt out of sharing their footage with police or the public. However, constant footage of your home maybe available if your neighbor has opted in and there's nothing you can do about that.
Ring CEO Jamie Siminoff told CBS New York,
We will always follow the law. But, we will always fight for our customers rights, their control and privacy.
Andrew Guthrie Ferguson, a law professor, tells the Washington Post that this is a slippery slope,
By tapping into “a perceived need for more self-surveillance and by playing on consumer fears about crime and security,” he added, Ring has found “a clever workaround for the development of a wholly new surveillance network, without the kind of scrutiny that would happen if it was coming from the police or government.”
Ring has now partnered with 400 law enforcement agencies around the country including the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety and the Portage Department of Public Safety. Here's an interactive map listing law enforcement agencies who have now partnered with Ring.
What do you think? Is this a good thing or a potential invasion of privacy?