Illustration by Tag Hartman-Simkins/Futurism. Source: Amazon/Getty Images
What if the biggest threat to your security and privacy is not a person, but a device that millions of Americans have willingly installed in their homes?
That’s the argument from tech critics at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, who say Amazon’s Ring Doorbell devices constitute a “surveillance nightmare”—what they’re calling the largest civilian surveillance panopticon in the history of the United States.
The point is that Ring Doorbell helps homeowners beware of porch pirates and visiting trick-or-treaters. But they do, paying a heavy price for your privacy, says the digital rights advocacy group. For example, the ring has been Sued by the Federal Trade Commission For illegally collecting and storing audio and video data between 2017 and 2020. This particular issue came to light in 2023, when the company was found to be giving employees wide reach Footage captured by Ring devices – including cameras inside people’s homes.
And of course, you can argue that this won’t be a problem if you use the company’s equipment on your veranda. However, this is also not a safe bet. Back in 2022, consumer Reports found Ring Doorbells can record ambient audio from up to 20 feet away — allowing them to be heard by pedestrians, neighbors, and in some cases, even homeowners who leave their doors or windows open.
It all adds up to what EFF calls the “digital porch-to-police pipeline,” where technology enables paranoid homeowners make quick decisions About who is or is not in their neighborhood and can easily send the police to confront them. In fact, since at least 2016, the ring has made it a goal to involve law enforcement agencies like the Los Angeles Police Department in its business. free gift And warrantless access For user footage.
As Chris Gilliard, research fellow at Harvard Kennedy School, explains consumer ReportsAny surveillance tool would disproportionately impact those who already face the most oppression from law enforcement – such as Black and immigrant communities. “This is the truth of surveillance: It’s going to hit the most marginalized people hardest and most often,” Gilliard said.
And with Ring’s recently announced “Search Party” function, in which Ring can track a dog by linking multiple devices together, things are looking even more dystopian. In a statement, Ring said it “built the feature with strong privacy protections from the beginning,” allowing owners “to choose on a case-by-case basis whether they want to share video with the pet’s owner to support reunification.”
still like EFF explainsThe devices already have a baked-in facial recognition feature for humans. Simply put, it’s not hard to imagine a world where Ring and technology like it make privacy impossible in public. Perhaps the right question to ask is not whether the Ring will make it – but rather whether we will notice before the Panopticon becomes irreversible.
One thing is certain: the pressure is reaching the ring. Following the backlash over the company’s disastrous Super Bowl ad, it announced that it is Canceling your partnership with FlockA controversial surveillance startup that may have integrated its cameras into an even larger network.
More on monitoring: Officials are deploying AI monitoring tools in school bathrooms
