Ring doorbell cameras will no longer share their footage with police departments as the Amazon-owned company tries to soothe privacy fears

Ring, the company behind the hugely popular doorbell cameras, announced on Wednesday that it would no longer share its footage with police after campaigners raised privacy concerns.

The Amazon-owned company did not give reasons for its decision, but it is seen as an attempt to allay fears of constant surveillance.

Ring said in a blog post Wednesday that it will discontinue its “Request for Assistance” tool, which allows police departments and other public safety agencies to request and receive video captured by its doorbell cameras through Ring’s Neighbors app.

The new policy comes into effect this week.

Judy Kline is seen with a hammer outside the Suarez family home in St. Louis, Missouri. Kline was eventually arrested for threatening the family

Fatima Suarez said the abuse at her home had been going on for a year because Judy Kline (pictured), a woman they had previously had no contact with, regularly came to their door, damaged property and stole their mail.

Eric Kuhn, the head of Neighbors, said police can still share information with the community through public posts in the Neighbors app.

Police and other agencies can also still use the app to “share helpful safety tips, updates and community events,” Kuhn said.

But they cannot request the images via the app.

The decision will likely disappoint those who have managed to catch criminals and put an end to abuse, thanks to Ring cameras – although they can still voluntarily hand over the footage to police even if the company doesn’t.

Last year, the Suarez family in St. Louis filed suit against their neighbor, Judy Kline, after she was caught on a doorbell camera repeatedly threatening and waving a hammer at the Mexican-American family.

Fatima Suarez said the abuse had been going on for a year because Kline, a woman they had had no previous contact with, regularly came to their door, damaged property and stole their mail.

Video from their Ring camera eventually caught Kline in the act, shouting racial slurs at the Suarez family.

Ring Doorbell CCTV footage shows an attack on three women by a former convict in Philadelphia in June 2022. The footage helped track and arrest Malcolm White

A woman in Florida is caught on camera stealing Amazon packages from people’s homes

The update is the latest restriction Ring has imposed on police activity in the Neighbors app concerns from privacy watchdogs about the company’s relationship with police departments across the country.

Critics have emphasized that the proliferation of these relationships – and the ability of users to report what they consider suspicious behavior – can turn neighborhoods into a place of constant surveillance and lead to more cases of racial profiling.

In an effort to increase transparency, Ring changed its policy in 2021 to make police requests publicly visible through the Neighbors app.

Previously, law enforcement agencies could send Ring owners who lived near an area where an active investigation was taking place private emails requesting video footage.

“Now, hopefully, Ring will no longer engage in the business of platforming informal and unauthorized police requests for footage to its users,” said Matthew Guariglia, a senior policy analyst at the digital rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Law enforcement agencies can still access videos using a search warrant.

Camera footage from the Ring Doorbell helped track a red Toyota (seen above) driven by Romeo Nance in Joliet, Illinois last weekend. Nance shot and killed eight people and wounded a ninth

Ring also reserves the right to share footage without user consent in limited circumstances.

Ring announced it in mid-2022 handed over 11 videos to police without notifying users that year due to “urgent or emergency situations,” one of the categories in which videos can be shared without the owners’ consent.

However, Guariglia of the Electronic Frontier Foundation said the group remains skeptical about the ability of law enforcement and the company to determine what is or is not an emergency.

Last summer, Ring agreed to pay $5.8 million to settle with the Federal Trade Commission over allegations that the company gave employees and contractors access to user videos.

Additionally, the agency said Ring had inadequate security practices, allowing hackers to control consumer accounts and cameras.

The company disagrees with these claims.