Tell Amazon Ring to End Its Dangerous Police Partnerships

Ring convinces communities to spy on themselves through doorbell cameras and its social app, Neighbors. The company recently claimed to “stand in solidarity with the Black community” and with those fighting back against police brutality and injustice. But putting surveillance tech in the hands of unaccountable police doesn’t protect anyone. It makes everyone less safe. These partnerships—made between Ring and local law enforcement, without community oversight—give police access to neighborhood cameras that surveil public spaces throughout our communities, and could even conceivably be used to identify participants in a protest through a neighborhood.

Amazon has announced a one-year moratorium on police use of its dangerous "Rekognition" facial recognition tool. This follows an announcement from IBM that it will no longer develop or research face recognition technology, in part because of its use in mass surveillance, policing, and racial profiling. We're glad Amazon has admitted that the unregulated use of face recognition can do harm to vulnerable communities. Now it's time for it to admit the dangers of Ring-police partnerships, and stand behind its statement on police brutality. Ring must end its police partnerships programs immediately. Tell Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Ring CEO Jamie Siminoff to end these partnerships and stop profiting off of fear.