Electronic Frontier FoundationFeb 10
Ring has announced a new “Search Party” feature that could eventually bring mass biometric surveillance to our streets. It’s on by default. Shut it off.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/02/no-one-including-our-furry-friends-will-be-safer-rings-surveillance-nightmare-0
No One, Including Our Furry Friends, Will Be Safer in Ring's Surveillance Nightmare

Amazon Ring’s Super Bowl ad offered a vision of our streets that should leave every person unsettled about the company’s goals for disintegrating our privacy in public.In the ad, disguised as a heartfelt effort to reunite the lost dogs of the country with their innocent owners, the company...

Electronic Frontier Foundation
Show threadferricoxideFeb 10
@eff

At least with a standalone smart camera, you can mount them in ways that constrains their view to just your property. Unfortunately, with the ways most porches are laid out, that's all but impossible with a doorbell camera.
Show threadferricoxideFeb 11
@eff

Also, just because you opt out, should we have any confidence that they aren't still using your camera for these purposes? Do we really think they'll be satisfied leaving holes in their surveillance nets when they can just silently closing those holes? I mean, they were supposed to get owners' consent before sharing with police, but that seemed to be done with a wink and a nod. I imagine the Flock arrangement will show owners' preferences being similarly bypassesd.
Show threadferricoxide
@eff

So... Nest was able to provide footage to the FBI to help in the Guthrie investigation. They were able to do this, even though the owner's subscription had lapsed and the camera was notionally offline. It was only offline for homeowner: clearly Google is still collecting video streams. Presumably, using it as an ongoing source of training data for their AI and other efforts.

So, yeah. I don't trust any of them to honor opt-outs.
Feb 12 at 4:37amWeb