Amazon’s Ring cancels partnership with Flock, a network of AI cameras used by ICE, feds, and police
This news comes less than a week after Ring’s Super Bowl commercial stoked controversy over the company’s capacity for mass surveillance.
Ring, the Amazon-owned home security company, announced on Thursday that it will no longer partner with Flock Safety, a maker of AI-powered surveillance cameras that share footage with law enforcement.
The two companies announced a deal in October that would have allowed Ring doorbell users to share footage with Flock and its network of public safety agencies to assist with “evidence collection and investigative work.” As reported by 404 Media, Flock’s footage has been used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Secret Service, and the Navy, which all have had access to Flock’s tens of thousands of AI-enabled cameras. (Flock maintains that it does not explicitly work with ICE.)
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