Live data from Hacker News

Amazon admits giving police Ring camera footage without consent

theintercept.com

1–10 of 532 posts

Re: Amazon admits giving police Ring camera footage without consent

#2
TLDR:

> Although Ring publicizes its policy of handing over camera footage only if the owner agrees — or if judge signs a search warrant — the company says it also reserves the right to supply police with footage in “emergencies,” defined broadly as “cases involving imminent danger of death or serious physical injury to any person.”

(…)

> it has provided police with user footage 11 times this year alone.

I would actually be okay with this if it was more public when the standard was met. For example, there’s an armed shooter at the local elementary school in front of my house? Sure, scoop up my Ring footage.

But without more info I have to assume it’s whenever the police say it’s an emergency, which can be anytime they want.

Re: Amazon admits giving police Ring camera footage without consent

#5
It's often overlooked that users get happiness from privacy, and the mere risk of a breach (however small) makes risk-averse people unhappy, even if a breach never eventuates.

Law enforcement might catch some more bad guys with 11 extra ring videos, but now every ring user has to worry about local police sharing/laughing/perving at their home videos - is it worth it?

It might have been well intentioned, but Amazon's decision seems dubious.

Re: Amazon admits giving police Ring camera footage without consent

#6
post #4
post #3

If the data is not on your hardware, it is not your data.

what if my data is on my hardware as well as on the cloud hardware? whose data is it anyways?

What even is "data"? If you mean "my data is the way in which I interact with a website. It is personal to me and is my property.", then surely you must also say "my mannerisms when I talk to you are personal to me, and you may not remember them without my consent".

Re: Amazon admits giving police Ring camera footage without consent

#7
post #5

It's often overlooked that users get happiness from privacy, and the mere risk of a breach (however small) makes risk-averse people unhappy, even if a breach never eventuates. Law enforcement might catch some more bad guys with 11 extra ring videos, but now every ring user has to worry about local police sharing/laughing/perving at their home videos - is it worth it? It might have been well intentioned, but Amazon's…

Privacy makes you happy but policing is a social program and its constituency are happy with more police invasion into the lives of others.

Re: Amazon admits giving police Ring camera footage without consent

#8
> “If there is the infrastructure, if there is the channel by which police can request footage without a warrant or consent of the user, under what circumstances they get it is out of our control. I worry that because it’s decided by the police and by somebody at Ring, there will be temptation to use that for increasingly less urgent situations.”

Many people (I would argue anybody with common sense) predicted Ring would get used as a surveillance tool. This quote correctly states the nearly-inevitable next step, which will also be ignored.

Re: Amazon admits giving police Ring camera footage without consent

#9
post #7
post #5

It's often overlooked that users get happiness from privacy, and the mere risk of a breach (however small) makes risk-averse people unhappy, even if a breach never eventuates. Law enforcement might catch some more bad guys with 11 extra ring videos, but now every ring user has to worry about local police sharing/laughing/perving at their home videos - is it worth it? It might have been well intentioned, but Amazon's…

Privacy makes you happy but policing is a social program and its constituency are happy with more police invasion into the lives of others.

Maybe it could be opt-in, or even opt-out, like organ donation, at least then the user has a say and it's not totally left to Amazon's discretion.

Re: Amazon admits giving police Ring camera footage without consent

#10

TLDR: > Although Ring publicizes its policy of handing over camera footage only if the owner agrees — or if judge signs a search warrant — the company says it also reserves the right to supply police with footage in “emergencies,” defined broadly as “cases involving imminent danger of death or serious physical injury to any person.” (…) > it has provided police with user footage 11 times this year alone. I would actu…

11 emergencies a year across the US sounds perfectly reasonable.
Post reply on HN