Amazon’s Ring Surveillance Dragnet Challenged by Digital Rights Activists

Not everyone is prepared to welcome all Internet of Things (IoT) technologies into their lives, and non-profit organization Fight for the Future is trying to limit Amazon’s Ring business dealings with law enforcement and local governments.

The only way to regulate Ring’s reach into the everyday world is to have the U.S. Congress implement industry regulation and maybe control its activity from a federal level.  The digital rights activists from Fight for the Future are trying to do just that with a new campaign, telling the government to investigate Amazon’s surveillance dragnet.

Fight for Future is gathering signatures in an effort to make the legislature pay attention to potential privacy and civil liberties concerns surrounding Amazon’s collaborations with various police departments from all over the United States.

“In over 500 cities, Amazon provides law enforcement with an automated way to request and access user footage from tens of thousands of Ring surveillance doorbells, en masse without a warrant. In exchange, police departments are given scripted talking points to market Amazon products at city events, on social media and other government platforms,” states Fight for Future.

The activists cite three significant issues. They say Ring cameras infringe on civil liberties because they give police free access to data that would otherwise require a search warrant. Fight for Future says that it’s a clear violation of the Fourth Amendment.

Secondly, Amazon’s Ring cameras capture videos of people that might happen to pass by homes or apartments, and the data is stored without their consent. Lastly, Ring cameras don’t use end-to-end encryption, and data could be intercepted, not to mention the fact that Amazon employees and contractors could have direct access to some live feeds.

The goal of the Fight for Future endeavor is to raise awareness regarding the practices of Amazon and to force legislators to take action.