It’s long been a controversial topic, but police and other public safety agencies will no longer be able to directly request footage from Ring doorbell camera users on the company’s app.
Ring - owned by Amazon - said it is “sunsetting” the Request for Assistance (RFA) tool, which basically means the feature is going to be removed as of this week.
Police have previously used this tool to request and receive video in its Neighbors app.
“Public safety agencies like fire and police departments can still use the Neighbors app to share helpful safety tips, updates, and community events,” Ring said in a blog post on Wednesday.
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“They will no longer be able to use the RFA tool to request and receive video in the app.
“Public safety agency posts are still public, and will be available for users to view on the Neighbors app feed and on the agency’s profile.”
The company has previously been criticized by privacy advocates for its relationship with the police, with some suggesting it can turn residential areas into a place of constant surveillance, as well as increasing racial profiling - as users could report what they saw as 'suspicious' behavior.
This is not the first time that Ring has made changes to the way that relationship works.
In 2021 Ring acted to make police requests publicly visible in the Neighbors app, rather than allowing law enforcement agencies to send private emails requesting video footage.
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With this new change, law enforcement agencies are still able to see videos using a search warrant, while Ring maintains the right to share footage without the consent of users in certain situations.
In fact, in 2022 the company said it had given 11 videos to police without notifying users that year, citing “exigent or emergency” circumstances.
Amazon expanded its its home-security business back in 2018 when it bought Ring, reportedly paying over $1 billion for the company.
Inventor Jamie Siminoff came up with the concept of video doorbells you can answer with your smartphone, but parted ways with Ring after 10 years in 2023.