Surveying your life through Amazon Ring technology

[razz]

Being a non-techie, I was not aware that the very technology that one might use for self-protection and security actually invades your freedom.
The Guardian article https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/may/18/amazon-ring-largest-civilian-surveillance-network-us?utm_term=5b6f10fd895472ab09ec06887aa66460&utm_campaign=GuardianTodayUK&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=GTUK_email should help to examine our decisions.

Quotes:
"Then there’s this: since Amazon bought Ring in 2018, it has brokered more than 1,800 partnerships with local law enforcement agencies, who can request recorded video content from Ring users without a warrant. That is, in as little as three years, Ring connected around one in 10 police departments across the US with the ability to access recorded content from millions of privately owned home security cameras. These partnerships are growing at an alarming rate.

Data I’ve collected from Ring’s quarterly reported numbers shows that in the past year through the end of April 2021, law enforcement have placed more than 22,000 individual requests to access content captured and recorded on Ring cameras. Ring’s cloud-based infrastructure (supported by Amazon Web Services) makes it convenient for law enforcement agencies to place mass requests for access to recordings without a warrant.
Because Ring cameras are owned by civilians, law enforcement are given a backdoor entry into private video recordings of people in residential and public space that would otherwise be protected under the fourth amendment. By partnering with Amazon, law enforcement circumvents these constitutional and statutory protections, as noted by the attorney Yesenia Flores. In doing so, Ring blurs the line between police work and civilian surveillance and turns your neighbor’s home security system into an informant. Except, unlike an informant, it’s always watching.

The concerns of activists and scholars have been compounded by developments in facial recognition technology and other forms of machine learning that could be conceivably applied to Ring recorded content and live feeds. Facial recognition technology has been denounced by AI researchers and civil rights groups for its racial and gendered biases. Although Ring doesn’t currently use facial recognition in its cameras, Amazon has sold this technology to police in the past. Following pressure from AI researchers and civil rights groups, Amazon placed a one-year pause on police use of its controversial facial recognition technology, but this moratorium will expire in June."

Were you aware of this?

[catherine]

No, I was not aware of this, but it doesn't surprise me. Our privacy seems to be thing of the past, starting probably when we began using our social security numbers for so many things beyond the original intent and stretching into surveillance cameras in parking lots, GPS pings on phones, caches and cookies in our computers, our lives' moments and personal proclivities spread out in photo histories on social media.

I harbor no delusions that my life is "private." The question will be, how will we move forward as a society to draw ethical boundaries. And how quickly will those boundaries erode? And how will the breaches be used against us?

I often wonder, if we survive the 6th mass extinction, will artificial intelligence be the precursor and eventual heartbeat of a new species of homo sapien?

Geez, too early for these thoughts. Back to my coffee and bullet journal. But interesting read, razz! ;)

[iris lilies]

I am not sure what to think of this.

While government intrusion in our lives, in the big picture, is of concern to me, this as *yet* is not of concern. I guess because…Ring cameras capture quasi public or public views. My face when I am outdoors, my front porch, my sidewalk—these are all public spaces where anyone can capture images of me.

[happystuff]

First, I don't have Ring or anything like it. But it doesn't surprise me about the privacy and the police usage. My old workplace has outside cameras and the local police often came in to see if the cameras picked up footage on something they were investigating.

[iris lilies]

We have constant Ring footage shown on Nextdoor because criminals are out there practicing their trade. The police department does ask for video footage in certain cases, if the ceime is big enough and the victims yell loudly enough.

[Gardnr]

Being a non-techie, I was not aware that the very technology that one might use for self-protection and security actually invades your freedom.

Were you aware of this?

Yes. This has been in the news multiple times and RING evidence has afforded multiple prosecutions and guilty verdicts.

Do we have one? No. We also do not have Alexa or any similar device. We're not willing to be tracked any further. Our cell phones and our Internet activity are more than enough tracking evidence for my cybersecurity hubster.

[razz]

I hadn't realized that the home security cameras could be accessed without a warrant or one's knowledge or consent by an agreement between Amazon and the police. It seems that if you buy one, you are surrendering control. Who else could obtain access? How would one know? Do these devices work the same way inside the home as well?

I have no plans to get more devices than my phone, Macbook and iPad and don't log onto Facebook. My cable internet even has a SmartHome option but not sure what that entails. Sometimes, trying to stay up-to-date with all the technology causes one to shake one's head. Twenty-five years ago, life was a lot more manageable. Are we really better off with all the changes including AI identity issues from all the extra devices?

[catherine]

We also do not have Alexa or any similar device. We're not willing to be tracked any further.

When I was in NJ visiting my son/DIL/GSs I was trying to operate their TV and I complained that Alexa wasn't responding. My son laughed and asked me, "Do you really think M__ would allow Alexa to be enabled?" I said, "Oh, of course. Silly me!" M___ is DS's wife, a cybersecurity expert who works for a very well known, large US company. If I ever posted a picture of. my grandkids, like all my other friends do all the time, I would be disowned as a grandparent. She once threatened a priest who took pictures of the kids to post on Facebook.

If anyone is concerned about REAL privacy, I don't know what the options are, other than hide away somewhere with no phone, credit cards, bank accounts, or computer.

[Gardnr]

a cybersecurity expert who works for a very well known, large US company. If I ever posted a picture of. my grandkids, like all my other friends do all the time, I would be disowned as a grandparent. She once threatened a priest who took pictures of the kids to post on Facebook.

If anyone is concerned about REAL privacy, I don't know what the options are, other than hide away somewhere with no phone, credit cards, bank accounts, or computer.

Hubster is in government. He would totally support her stance.

On photos of children....I totally agree that none should be posted anywhere without parental consent. Abduction is such a real threat in this world as well as child porn. Photoshopping is too damn easy.

You are right. All of those items you listed remove another level of privacy. Have your DIL show you sometime how easy it is to find every single personal data point on you for a person with some skills. They can't be officers without knowing how to do the hacking.

[Jane v2.0]

I have Alexa "disabled" on my devices, though that may just be a charade in the big scheme of things. I don't have the stand alone version of Alexa. I also have cute little black stickers* over the lenses of my front-facing cameras. But I have no illusions about privacy in general. Fortunately, my life would be soporific to the max for any entity who cared to listen in.

*You can buy little lens shutters you can affix to your phone that open and close, if you're prone to taking selfies.

[ToomuchStuff]

Security and privacy are always a trade off. You have to be comfortable with your choices or the people you are using.
I recently bought several sets of camera's based on different factors. Any, that have cloud access, you are essentially giving LEO permission to view them in the terms of service. These are destined for the business, to help me get information before heading out (need a gun, someone just doing vandalism, etc). These were bought based on a LEO relatives recommendation. They purchased and placed them as needed, when someone was released from prison and came looking for them and the family for payback. Their old department saw the suspect via the Ring doorbell at their old house.
The other systems, are NOT cloud based. I can set them or my Raspberry pi camera's so I can access them remotely, but that requires a lot more setup then what the average home camera buyer wants to do. It also means that LEO's do not have access, need warrants, as I have a reasonable expectation of privacy. They can be aimed to only cover private property and no public.

I refuse to have Alexa, Whatever Google is called, Windows 10's voice version, smart tv's (future tv's will have to be commercial displays, as most of them are not smart, or run some form of Linux on them, such as Tizen). We still argue over Facebook, etc, as grandma doesn't understand why she can't post photo's on it, or of former LEO's that used to do UC work, etc.

[Rogar]

It's been my assumption that there are certain rights to privacy that a person forfeits as soon as they use a computer, and that as soon as a person uses facebook, or does a google search, or buys from Amazon that someone is collecting and using that information. I don't use common social media sights or own a ring, limit online bill payment, and use basic protections on my computers. However I do own three Alexa devices that I have justified by making my life simpler. The only one with a camera has the lens blocked. I suppose information is being collected when I use Alexa, but I don't understand why it offers any more risk to my life than any of the other digital platforms?

[Rogar]

NPR had a recent report on how Amazon Echo and Ring can allow your network to be shared with neighbors using their new Sidewalk feature, starting June 8. The article talks about how it could affect privacy and what you can do to disable the feature. It was pretty simple to disable.

https://www.npr.org/2021/06/02/1002590964/your-amazon-echo-will-share-your-wi-fi-network-with-neighbors-unless-you-opt-out

[happystuff]

Interesting information. I don't have any of these Amazon or other devices, but I agree with the article that it is a huge red-flag that this is an automatic opt-in.