Ring’s Flock breakup doesn’t fix its real problem
The most striking thing about Ring’s statement that it parted ways with Flock Safety is what the home security company didn’t say. There was no mention of public backlash around ties to ICE, nor any promise to address users’ concerns about the company’s relationship with law enforcement.
In an increasingly authoritarian political climate, the threat of mass surveillance fueled by AI-powered cameras is what many people fear. Yet Ring’s statement doesn’t attempt to resolve this issue. Instead, the company says it canceled Flock’s integration with its community queries tool because it would “require significantly more time and resources than anticipated.”
It is clear to everyone that the Amazon-owned company has bowed to public pressure. According to a Peakmetrics study, social media and media sentiment following the release of Ring Search Party’s Super Bowl ad was nearly 50% negative. People are unhappy with the company and this move was an obvious attempt to claw back some goodwill.
This pushback must have been particularly galling for founder and vice president Jamie Siminoff, who has always maintained that Ring’s products are designed to help prevent and fight crime.
This is not a new approach for the company. Although public opinion on law enforcement has changed significantly since he left Ring in 2023 and returned last year, Siminoff remains firmly convinced that the combination of AI, cameras and policing can make neighborhoods safer.
Although Ring has separated from Flock, its community requests tool has not changed. It’s still very active, thanks to a partnership with Axon, a similar law enforcement technology company best known for making Tasers.
The community requests were introduced by Siminoff upon his return, following his predecessor’s canning of Ring’s controversial first police request tool. It allows authorized local law enforcement to request video footage from nearby residents of an ongoing investigation without a warrant. These images then pass through Axon’s evidence management system. Responding to a request is optional and Ring maintains that your privacy is always protected and images are never sent automatically.
One of Axon’s former executives was the acting director of ICE
Ring is currently touting how the tool is being used in the Nancy Guthrie kidnapping investigation, and the company says it was instrumental in finding the suspect in the Brown University shooting.
Canceling the Flock integration does not change community requests; it simply pauses the expansion. If Ring had implemented it, the program could have reached the 5,000 local law enforcement agencies that work with Flock. Instead, it’s now limited to those that work with Axon, an integration that Ring says is continuing.
Ring maintains that no federal agency, including ICE, can use community requests to request images from Ring users. But critics say that in jurisdictions where local police operate under a 287(g) agreement, ICE could gain access to its resources, including video footage.
This is exactly what Flock was criticized for. As reported 404 Media287(g) with local agencies gave ICE “lateral access” to Flock’s Automated License Plate Scanning System – a nationwide network of AI-powered surveillance cameras.
Although Flock has conducted pilot programs with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which houses ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), it claims to have no contracts with DHS. Axon has several.
From Tasers to surveillance systems
Axon has grown Tasers into a billion-dollar business and now makes body and vehicle cameras as well as software platforms used by law enforcement. According to public records, Axon won more than 70 contracts with DHS for its equipment and software, totaling more than $96 million between 2003 and 2024.
If Ring dropped Flock because of its ties to ICE, it would also make sense to drop Axon.
Alongside Axon Evidence, Axon also operates Fusus, a cloud platform it purchased in 2024 that can bring together real-time data from cameras, sensors, drones and community feeds, “transforming disparate assets into a shared intelligence network for faster, coordinated response.” On its website, Axon actively markets the software as a tool for CBP.
By 2023, Fusus would have been able to integrate real-time data from private cameras, although this required additional hardware and fees. The platform’s capabilities sound a lot like the foundations of a dystopian neighborhood watch system that Ring’s Super Bowl ad sparked fears about.
If Ring dropped Flock because of its ties to ICE, it would also make sense to drop Axon. But that’s not the decision the company made.
Ring’s vast infrastructure is already in place, with millions of AI-powered cameras on porches and in homes across the country, and its tool that links user footage to law enforcement relies on a company with direct ties to DHS.
If Ring wants to regain user trust, it can’t just vaguely mention a canceled partnership due to “resources.” It must openly acknowledge these concerns and clearly define how far it is willing to push this powerful technology and, more importantly, where it will draw the line.
