Amazon as we speak introduced that it’s end-of-lifing Request for Help (RFA), a controversial software that allowed police and fireplace departments to request doorbell video by Ring’s Neighbors app.
“Public security companies like fireplace and police departments can nonetheless use the Neighbors app to share useful security ideas, updates, and group occasions,” Neighbors app head, Eric Kuhn, famous in a weblog publish. “They’ll not be capable to use the RFA software to request and obtain video within the app. Public security company posts are nonetheless public, and might be accessible for customers to view on the Neighbors app feed and on the company’s profile.”
The characteristic has been a significant concern for privateness advocates for a lot of years. In 2021, Amazon made police requests public as a part of its biannual transparency report. That yr, it acquired 3,147 authorized requests from companies representing a 65% improve over the earlier yr.
Public officers have additionally raised considerations in regards to the follow. In 2019, for example, Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey penned an open letter to then-CEO, Jeff Bezos, noting,
Though Amazon markets Ring as America’s ‘new neighborhood watch,’ the expertise captures and shops video from tens of millions of households and sweeps up footage of numerous bystanders who could also be unaware that they’re being filmed. I’m notably alarmed to be taught that Ring is pursuing facial-recognition expertise with the potential to flag sure people as suspicious based mostly on their biometric data.
Markey additionally cited biases in facial recognition software program as a significant challenge, expressing concern round a disproportionate misidentification amongst folks of shade.
“As acknowledged in Ring’s legislation enforcement tips, Ring reserves the appropriate to reply instantly to pressing legislation enforcement requests for data in instances involving imminent hazard of loss of life or severe bodily damage to any individual.2 Emergency disclosure requests have to be accompanied by a accomplished emergency request type,” the corporate wrote in its personal letter. “Primarily based on the knowledge offered within the emergency request type and the circumstances described by the officer, Ring makes a good-faith dedication whether or not the request meets the well-known commonplace, grounded in federal legislation, that there’s imminent hazard of loss of life or severe bodily damage to any individual requiring disclosure of data immediately.”
Right now’s information marks a key change in coverage that’s more likely to be heralded as a win for privateness advocates.
