Amazon’s Ring Cameras Push Deeper Into Police and Government Surveillance
Less than two years after removing a feature that made it easier for law enforcement to request images from owners of Ring doorbells and other security products, Amazon has partnered with two companies that will help facilitate the same types of requests.
Two weeks after rolling out a new product line for 2025, Amazon-owned Ring announced a partnership with Flock Safety, as part of the expansion of the Community Requests feature in the Ring Neighbors app. Flock, based in Atlanta, is a police technology company that sells surveillance technology, including drones, license plate scanning systems and other tools. This announcement follows a partnership between Ring and Axon, formerly Taser International, which also develops tools for police and military applications.
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Taken together, the two partnerships indicate that Amazon’s Ring division is not only reintroducing tools that allow police to request images or videos from Ring customers without a warrant, but also closer alignment with companies with ties to police departments, ICE, the Secret Service and branches of the military.
In one of its blog posts, Ring described the community request process. He said an agency verified with Axon Evidence, which is owned by Axon, could submit a community request that includes a specific location and time period of an incident as well as details of what is being investigated.
The request would appear publicly in the Neighbors feed to people in that area, informing them of the possibility of providing footage of this incident.
“If you ignore the request, the agency will not know; your anonymity and your videos are protected. The choice is entirely yours,” Ring said in the post.
According to the post, submitted video footage goes directly to Axon Evidence, where it is verified for authenticity.
Community requests are ‘local,’ says Ring
In an email response to CNET, a Ring representative reiterated the community request process, adding that “only local public safety agencies can initiate community requests.”
The localized area submitted is limited to half a square mile, and these agencies do not have access to information about who will receive a request to share footage or how many Ring users are in a given area, according to Ring. The company says those requesting information should follow community guidelines.
It is unclear whether “local public safety agencies” can include local branches of federal agencies such as the FBI or Homeland Security.
The partnerships Amazon enters into would give these agencies more entry points to create these demands. Amazon hinted in one of its blog posts that it might add partnerships with other companies. Community requests can only come from agencies verified by a third party, such as Flock or Axon, as well as Ring.
In 2018, when Flock Safety was a fledgling startup, it installed its own cameras in neighborhoods to provide surveillance and fight crime.
