Ring has announced the cancellation of its planned integration with Flock Safety, a decision made jointly due to the anticipated resource demands and time required for the partnership. The collaboration, initially revealed in October, would have enabled law enforcement to request footage from the Ring Neighbors app, but the integration was never implemented.
This decision follows recent criticism of Ring’s advertising for its AI-powered Search Party feature, which aims to help locate lost pets. Concerns were raised about the potential misuse of such technology for surveillance purposes, despite Ring’s assurances regarding user control over video sharing.
Flock Safety, which supplies technology to numerous police departments, has faced scrutiny from civil rights organizations like the ACLU over the implications of sharing footage with law enforcement, particularly regarding federal access. Ring emphasizes that it does not collaborate with ICE and maintains that its existing Community Requests feature, allowing police to request footage voluntarily, remains operational.
Meanwhile, rival company Nest, under Google, is currently involved in the investigation of the Nancy Guthrie disappearance, where footage from a Nest camera was crucial, despite the absence of an active subscription.