Super Bowl commercials always get people talking but in one case this year, public debate has brought about change. Outcry about potential overreach of public surveillance has made Ring, the doorbell camera folks, rethink its “Search Party” feature promoted during Sunday’s big game. Ring has canceled its partnership with Flock Safety, a law enforcement tech company, amid the fallout, according to an article by NBC News.
Ring, owned by Amazon, used the spot to promote a feature in the security camera that helps people find lost pets.
When the feature is activated by a user, a network of participating Ring cameras scan footage for images resembling the missing pet.
But people are concerned pets aren’t the only things the feature is watching, calling it “mass surveillance,” “terrifying,” “propaganda” and “insane.”
A commenter on X wrote: “Ring just casually outing themselves as literal spyware that can be accessed by anyone on the network. This is insane.”
A Facebook user said: “btw the ring doorbell commercial was terrifying, and if I had one that thing would be lit on fireeeee.”
Matthew Guariliglia of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, explained the group’s position last year: “Not only is the company reintroducing new versions of old features which would allow police to request footage directly from Ring users, it is also reintroducing a new feature that would allow police to request live-stream access to people’s home security devices …
“This is a grave threat to civil liberties in the United States. After all, police have used Ring footage to spy on protestors, and obtained footage without a warrant or consent of the user.”