Ring says it’s not giving ICE entry to its cameras

[ad_1] Ring’s partnership with Flock is sparking renewed on-line backlash this week, with influencers calling for individuals to smash their Ring cameras and claiming the corporate is a part of the surveillance state amid heightened considerations over ICE actions.

Flock is an AI-powered surveillance digital camera firm that has reportedly allowed authorities businesses — together with ICE — to entry information from its nationwide digital camera community. Amazon-owned residence safety firm Ring introduced a partnership with Flock final yr as a part of its new Neighborhood Requests instrument. This permits native regulation enforcement businesses to request footage from close by Ring customers when investigating an lively case.

“Ring has no partnership with ICE … and doesn't share video with them.”

In accordance with reporting from Futurism, activists are pushing a grassroots marketing campaign throughout social media, together with TikTok and Bluesky, telling Ring customers to eliminate their cameras to stop footage from being utilized by ICE. Nonetheless, Ring spokesperson Yassi Yarger advised The Verge in an e mail that “Ring has no partnership with ICE, doesn't give ICE movies, feeds, or back-end entry, and doesn't share video with them.”

Yarger additionally stated that the Flock integration in query, which was introduced final October, is just not but dwell. That means Flock doesn't have entry to Neighborhood Requests.

“As we discover the mixing, we'll make sure the characteristic is constructed for using native public security businesses solely — which is what this system is designed for,” she stated. In accordance with Ring’s assist website, native businesses are restricted to metropolis and county organizations.

Nonetheless, as soon as footage is within the fingers of native authorities, it’s out of Ring’s management. Ring founder Jamie Siminoff has advised The Verge that he believes widespread cameras can stop crime. However as soon as deployed, the potential for such a large-scale native surveillance system for use for different functions could be very actual.

Since returning to the corporate final yr, Siminoff has leaned into his perception that extra cameras result in safer communities, launching Neighborhood Requests final September.

That is primarily a rebrand of Ring’s controversial Request for Help characteristic, which was discontinued in 2024. Solely, as an alternative of direct partnerships with regulation enforcement, Neighborhood Requests works by means of integrations with “third-party proof administration platforms,” comparable to Flock and Axon, a Taser and body-cam firm.

Any native company partnered with both firm can request customers’ footage by means of the Ring’s apps. In accordance with Yarger, at the moment, solely the Axon partnership is dwell.

In accordance with Ring, Neighborhood Requests sends a request from the native company to each the Ring Neighbors app and the Ring app’s Neighborhood Feed. The request seems to all customers within the space of an lively investigation, and a consumer can select to share footage or ignore the request. Ring says nobody will likely be notified for those who ignore a request.

Learn how to disable Neighborhood Requests and allow E2E

Should you don’t wish to take part in Neighborhood Requests, you possibly can disable it within the Ring or Neighbors app. Go to the app’s settings web page, discover the Neighbors Settings, then scroll all the way down to Neighborhood Settings, click on Feed Settings, uncheck Neighborhood Requests, and click on Apply.

<img alt="You can opt out of Community Requests without disabling your device." data-chromatic="ignore" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-nimg="fill" class="x271pn0" style="position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-image:url("data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' %3E%3Cfilter id='b' color-interpolation-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3CfeColorMatrix values='1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 100 -1' result='s'/%3E%3CfeFlood x='0' y='0' width='100%25' height='100%25'/%3E%3CfeComposite operator='out' in='s'/%3E%3CfeComposite in2='SourceGraphic'/%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3C/filter%3E%3Cimage width='100%25' height='100%25' x='0' y='0' preserveAspectRatio='none' style='filter: url(%23b);' href='data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mN8+R8AAtcB6oaHtZcAAAAASUVORK5CYII='/%3E%3C/svg%3E")" sizes="(max-width: 639px) 100vw, (max-width: 1023px) 50vw, 700px" srcset="https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/IMG_3599.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=256 256w, https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/IMG_3599.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=376 376w, https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/IMG_3599.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=384 384w, https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/IMG_3599.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=415 415w, https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/IMG_3599.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=480 480w, https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/IMG_3599.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=540 540w, https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/IMG_3599.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=640 640w, https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/IMG_3599.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=750 750w, https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/IMG_3599.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=828 828w, https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/IMG_3599.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1080 1080w, https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/IMG_3599.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1200 1200w, https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/IMG_3599.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1440 1440w, https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/IMG_3599.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1920 1920w, https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/IMG_3599.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2048 2048w, https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/IMG_3599.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400 2400w" src="https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/IMG_3599.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400"/> You'll be able to decide out of Neighborhood Requests with out disabling your machine. Screenshot Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge

Nonetheless, Ring — like many safety digital camera firms — might present footage to regulation enforcement with out a warrant in what it deems an emergency.

To stop anybody from accessing your Ring footage, you possibly can allow end-to-end encryption (E2E) within the Ring app.

Whereas your footage continues to be saved in Ring’s cloud, with E2E turned on, solely the cellular machine you arrange the digital camera with can view the video; it can't be accessed by Ring or used for Neighborhood Requests.

Enabling E2E means you lose a number of options, together with particular person detection, wealthy notifications that present a snapshot of exercise, and Ring’s new AI-powered descriptions, all of which depend on the cloud.

Whereas most cloud-based safety cameras encrypt footage in transit and at relaxation, they should entry it within the cloud to investigate it and allow these options.

Options to cloud-dependent cameras

If you wish to keep away from cloud-dependent cameras fully, there are a number of different choices for preserving your digital camera footage personal and safe.

As talked about, Ring cameras use the cloud to course of footage for options like particular person detection; nonetheless, some safety cameras can course of video domestically and absolutely encrypt it earlier than sending it to the cloud. Usually, this requires a hub to course of the footage.

If you're an iPhone consumer, Apple’s HomeKit Safe Video service is absolutely E2E encrypted. Video evaluation is finished domestically on a house hub, comparable to a HomePod or Apple TV, and saved in your iCloud account. It requires appropriate cameras, together with fashions from Eve, Aqara, and Eufy.

Anker-owned Eufy is one other firm that provides native storage and video processing for its broad choice of cameras and video doorbells. The corporate had some critical safety breaches involving the cloud in 2022, however its newer HomeBase {hardware} can run domestically.

TP-Hyperlink’s Tapo, Aqara, and Reolink not too long ago launched native hubs for storage and processing of footage from their cameras, and these firms additionally supply cameras and video doorbells with onboard native processing and native storage through microSD playing cards.

The brand new Matter normal now helps safety cameras, which might open extra choices for native, safe storage and processing of digital camera footage.

Finally, any digital camera linked to the web comes with the chance that it may very well be accessed by somebody apart from you, it doesn't matter what the corporate says. So it stays essential to consider carefully earlier than including any kind of surveillance to your private home or your neighborhood.

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