jeffdcFeb 9
Qasim Rashid, Esq.

Dystopia notwithstanding, Ring's commercial about using their surveillance to find lost pets makes no sense.

They say 10M pets are lost per year & their service finds "more than 1 dog per day." So let's even say generously 500 dogs per year.

Out of 10M lost pets, they want Americans to commit privacy suicide for a .005% success rate???

"We fail 99.995% of the time! Let us violate your privacy!" is a helluva way to burn $10M in ads and destroy your brand.

I'm uninstalling my RING today.

Feb 9 at 4:31pmMastodon for iOS
Show threadTom Fakes (he/him)Feb 9
@QasimRashid I’ve been a happy Eufy user for many years. The video is stored inside my house. Ring has always scared me with their poor security of data
Show threadDeafboyFeb 9
@QasimRashid @craz8 Happened 3 years ago, but still... https://gizmodo.com/eufy-local-security-camera-cloud-unencrypted-scandal-1850059207
Eufy Finally Admits Its 'Local' Cameras Were Sending Unencrypted Streams, Claims It Will Do Better

The security camera company’s parent Anker promised all video stream requests will be E2E encrypted, and that every Eufy camera will be WebRTC-enabled.

Gizmodo
Show threadJulesceltFeb 10
@craz8 @QasimRashid We've had Eufy for just over a year and love that we can store at home and not have to have connected to the internet. Our data. Image quality is amazing.
Show threadMark OtwayFeb 10

@julescelt01
All of our cameras, mostly Reolink, have the Internet access explicitly blocked via the router. It's the only way to be sure.

Of course, I can still access them remotely via the VPN to my house, but they are blocked from contacting anything on the Web.
@craz8 @QasimRashid

Show threadSteve HerseyFeb 9
@QasimRashid
Way ahead of you there. I've never installed, nor would ever consider, a Ring, Alexa, Siri, or other spy device, especially one connected to an evil megacorporation.
Show threadFranchescaFeb 9
@n1xnx @QasimRashid I finally convinced my partner to switch off Siri. He jokingly shouted “hey Siri!” to prove it was off, and an old iPad he was using to track his darts score answered from across the room. Like, FFS!🤦🏻‍♀️
Show threadNothinButDougFeb 9
@QasimRashid I dumped ring after the first time they started hanging out access to people’s videos. It’s amazing that people still trust them.
Show threadRealGene ☣️Feb 9

@QasimRashid
RING 451:

https://youtu.be/c6u-KMOxxng

Fahrenheit 451 (1966) Bluray

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

YouTube
Show threadJoeFeb 9
@QasimRashid I'm confident I could find and recover one lost dog a day just by wandering around a major city
Show threadgrrl_aexFeb 9

@QasimRashid

Cynically using poor sweet doggos to sanitize mass human surveillance. smh.

Cuddlewashing.

Show threadAnthonyFeb 9

@QasimRashid It's was never about finding lost pets.

https://www.geekwire.com/2019/amazon-defends-rings-relationship-police-u-s-senator-resurfaces-privacy-concerns/

Amazon defends Ring’s relationship with police as U.S. senator resurfaces privacy concerns

Amazon is attempting to set the record straight on Ring, the security camera company that the tech giant acquired in 2018. Ring has been making headlines

GeekWire
Show threadTito SwinefluFeb 9
@QasimRashid I've had a number of crimes happen at my house that should have been captured by various types of online cameras. Without fail, the cameras capture 10 hours of cars passing and squirrels playing, but misses the precise 30 seconds when that guy is smashing in my front door. It's uncanny.
Show threadkeithFeb 9

@QasimRashid i did the same math in my head when i saw that ad. i bought a ring camera a long time ago simply wanting an easy way to look at my garden. didn't mean to join the dystopian surveillance state.

curious if people have a recommendation for an outdoor solar-powered non-dystopian camera?

Show threadMike PlemmonsFeb 9
@QasimRashid @keithpjolley Reolink has cameras that do not require a cloud connection.
Show threadpoleguy looking for lost toolsFeb 9
@QasimRashid And dog is just coded language that means Mexican, right?
Show threadEarlFeb 9

@poleguy @QasimRashid

Interesting take.... Today it could be used with facial recognition to look for illegal immigrants.

Tomorrow is could be used to hunt for those that refuse to take the mark of the beast. (So they are also illegal.)

If they had rolled out this technology a few years earlier, they could have used it to hunt for those who still had not taken their clot-shot. But they will get another chance for that with the next virus they release.

Show threadpoleguy looking for lost toolsFeb 9

@Earl @QasimRashid

I said that in jest. But in every joke is some element of truth.

"Do not attribute to malice what can be attributed to ignorance."

But maybe also don't attribute to ignorance what can be attributed to greed.

I'm not in to conspiracy theories. So I'm not going to bite easily when I hear there is an unnamed "they" that's doing malicious virus releases.

I'll stick to blaming ignorance first... then greed...

This looks like greed. The data is very valuable... then abuse.

Show thread KaceyFeb 9
@QasimRashid better late than never, I guess
Show threadMark T. TomczakFeb 9

@QasimRashid You may be underestimating how much people care about their pets.

Would I commit "privacy suicide" to join a panopticon to increase the odds to find my pets?

Probably yes, is the thing.

Show threadVessOnSecurityFeb 9
@QasimRashid You kept your RING while knowing that it was snitching to the police and decided to uninstall it only now, after you saw a stupid ad?
Show threadSlightlyCyberpunkFeb 9
@QasimRashid @bontchev They've been handing data to cops without much constraints for many years now so unfortunately most people who have one were already fine with that. That stuff has been in the national news periodically since early 2019. Amazon bought them in 2018. So pretty much if the device has Amazon branding you can be pretty confident that it was purchased after the whole thing was already known to be a poorly controlled government surveillance network.
Show threadDaniel AJ SokolovFeb 9

@bontchev @QasimRashid That's like chiding someone because they quit smoking. Why did you even start!!!

Not factually wrong, but not helpful.

Show threadSeda GürsesFeb 9
@QasimRashid we wrote about what is potentially behind this https://arxiv.org/abs/2412.09994
The PET Paradox: How Amazon Instrumentalises PETs in Sidewalk to Entrench Its Infrastructural Power

Recent applications of Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs) reveal a paradox. PETs aim to alleviate power asymmetries, but can actually entrench the infrastructural power of companies implementing them vis-à-vis other public and private organisations. We investigate whether and how this contradiction manifests with an empirical study of Amazon's cloud connectivity service called Sidewalk. In 2021, Amazon remotely updated Echo and Ring devices in consumers' homes, to transform them into Sidewalk "gateways". Compatible Internet of Things (IoT) devices, called "endpoints", can connect to an associated "Application Server" in Amazon Web Services (AWS) through these gateways. We find that Sidewalk is not just a connectivity service, but an extension of Amazon's cloud infrastructure as a software production environment for IoT manufacturers. PETs play a prominent role in this pursuit: we observe a two-faceted PET paradox. First, suppressing some information flows allows Amazon to promise narrow privacy guarantees to owners of Echo and Ring devices when "flipping" them into gateways. Once flipped, these gateways constitute a crowdsourced connectivity infrastructure that covers 90% of the US population and expands their AWS offerings. We show how novel information flows, enabled by Sidewalk connectivity, raise greater surveillance and competition concerns. Second, Amazon governs the implementation of these PETs, requiring manufacturers to adjust their device hardware, operating system and software; cloud use; factory lines; and organisational processes. Together, these changes turn manufacturers' endpoints into accessories of Amazon's computational infrastructure; further entrenching Amazon's infrastructural power. We argue that power analyses undergirding PET design should go beyond analysing information flows. We propose future steps for policy and tech research.

arXiv.org
Show threadmancubeFeb 9

@QasimRashid our fun during breaks convos included "people are terrible at drawing even basic conclusions from the most basic data" and "they're even worse at even the most fundamental curiosity and analysis of methodology."

most folks seem to think their pets speak and understand as much English as 6 year old. of course they can be convinced "the computer" is gonna find their cat

Show threadThe Wolf of South EndFeb 9
@QasimRashid Presumably they understand animals change direction…erratically?
Show threadAndreas KFeb 9
@QasimRashid
It's a way to say that they believe in innumeracy.
Show threadFranchescaFeb 9

@QasimRashid Next feature for those white, middle class neighborhoods: search party, join neighbors across your community to lynch some poor bastard Karen thought was a bit “out of place”.

(They already letting ICE use this footage 😡)

Show threadAllpointsFeb 9

@QasimRashid it was never about finding pets. It's about finding enemies of the state.

And for those who think this is overly harsh or paranoid, please take a moment to read up on fascism.

#USpol

Show threadKevin Karhan Feb 9

@QasimRashid

I'm uninstalling my RING today.

Better late than never I guess...

Consider doing some #Camover in your hood to #UndoHarmCaused whilst at it...

#sarcasm #commentary #NotLegalAdvice

Show threadJason Petersen (he)Feb 9
@QasimRashid @Viss most of society would agree to face scans for age verification if they think it even prevented a single child abuse. They have no sense of proportionality.
Show threadJoris (dwz)Feb 9
@QasimRashid
Show threadGrant GouldFeb 9
The dog is the perfect subject to showcase Ring's power -- it has no consent to give, nor would anyone think twice or have the least scruple about tracking it. It is a small thing, an owned thing.
But it gives away just how Ring means to treat anyone who crosses the range of one of their cameras: Like a dog.
Show threadHakusoFeb 9
@QasimRashid
I had a friend buy a Ring and have flat refused to visit them since.
Show threadAnna TriptylineFeb 10
@QasimRashid https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUjjKfZktlh/?igsh=Zzl0a2IwNzhrOWJw this is great commentary on this too
matt bernstein on Instagram: "yay dogs (stop using r*ng cameras please) 🩵"

25K likes, 394 comments - mattxiv on February 9, 2026: "yay dogs (stop using r*ng cameras please) 🩵".

Instagram
Show threadColinFeb 10
@QasimRashid @atkelar play on folk’s heartstrings so they sign themselves up for the fascist cop camera network. Fun.
Show threadPonygirlFeb 10
@QasimRashid Yeah, and don't fall for the AI "toys" or the Alexia traps either.
Show threadAIienatedFeb 10

@QasimRashid I don't know the history behind the selection of "Ring" as the company/product name, but a cautionary tale from "The Lord of the Rings" occurs to me. The rings given to humans were lures providing the illusion of power and safety but leading to their destruction and suffering.

Given that the TechBros have embraced many of the most evil and corrupting elements from LoTR I have to wonder.

Show threadscrewlispFeb 11
@QasimRashid the idea being that you use your RING (C) to spy on your neighbors and when accused of spying on your neighbors say you were worried about your cat.