Ring Ends Police Access to User Doorbell Videos

Amazon's Ring has announced that it will no longer facilitate police's warrantless requests for footage from Ring users, marking a victory in the fight against blanket police surveillance and the erosion of customer trust. However, concerns remain about police obtaining footage directly from device owners without a warrant, and the need for Ring to do more to protect user privacy, such as implementing default end-to-end encryption and turning off default audio collection. The fight for privacy and to end Ring’s historic ill-effects on society continues, as the mass existence of doorbell cameras poses ongoing threats to civil liberties and exacerbates racial discrimination.