Source: Fortune
Summary
Amazon’s smart doorbell maker Ring has ended its partnership with police surveillance tech company Flock Safety after a backlash over a Super Bowl ad that sparked fears of a dystopian surveillance society. The partnership was meant to allow Ring camera owners to share video footage with law enforcement, but it never launched. Flock Safety operates automated license-plate reading systems across the US and has faced public outcry over its potential use in immigration enforcement. Amazon has faced other surveillance concerns over its Ring doorbell cameras, including criticism of its facial recognition technology.
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The numbers tell one story.
Ring and Flock Safety’s partnership was short-lived, and the reasons behind its end are unclear. The Super Bowl ad controversy may have been the catalyst, but Ring’s statement cites “significantly more time and resources” as the reason. Flock Safety’s automated license-plate reading systems have raised concerns over immigration enforcement, and Amazon’s facial recognition technology has been criticized by lawmakers and civil liberties groups. The Electronic Frontier Foundation warns that Ring’s technology could be used to track humans, and Democratic Sen. Edward Markey has urged Amazon to discontinue its “Familiar Faces” technology.
The announcement sounds like a familiar phase: a company pauses a partnership amid public outcry, citing a need to “best serve their respective customers.”
Author: Evan Null
