Ring has given 400+ police departments access to doorbell cameras

Re:Ring has given 400+ police departments access to doorbell... by adossi on Wednesday August 28, 2019 @10:50AM (#20820342)

So the police requests access to the footage for a specific time, the homeowner has to agree to it, and then Amazon/Ring hands it over? If the homeowner declines, then the neighbor agrees, the police can still (most likely) see what they were trying to see. This has got some creepy implications that basically means the more of these Ring cameras are out there, the more power the police has in terms of surveillance. The homeowner's permission is completely useless since there are likely other homeowners in the area that will agree.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ring has given 400+ police departments access to doorbell... by jellicle on Wednesday August 28, 2019 @12:26PM (#20821285)

Or the police request access, the homeowner denies it, the police get a search warrant for certain data on Ring's servers, Ring provides it without comment.

Everyone's happy! The homeowner has preserved their privacy by smugly clicking "no", the police are browsing all the footage from the camera anyway. Job well done.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ring has given 400+ police departments access to doorbell... by bagacrap on Wednesday August 28, 2019 @02:49PM (#20822760)

If a judge approves a search warrant, what's the issue? Your constitutional rights are not being infringed. I am afraid of the police (or CIA, etc) acting illegally but if the judiciary I'm probably ok with it.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ring has given 400+ police departments access to doorbell... by wolfgke on Wednesday August 28, 2019 @11:03AM (#20820483)

> The homeowner's permission is completely useless since there are likely other homeowners in the area that will agree.

Why does an "agree" "overwrite" a "disagree" and not the other way round?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ring has given 400+ police departments access to doorbell... by adossi on Wednesday August 28, 2019 @11:12AM (#20820575)

Well, in this specific context it is because the police's request is not for the neighbor to provide access to the other's Ring camera footage, it is a request to provide access to that individual's own Ring camera footage. An unfortunately side effect is that both Ring cameras, owned by two separate homeowners, may be pointing in a similar enough direction to still see whatever it is that the police wants to see. Then the whole 'agreement' process is kind of moot.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ring has given 400+ police departments access to doorbell... by CompuHacker on Wednesday August 28, 2019 @12:50PM (#20821536)

In a suburban environment.

[ Parent | on HN ]