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|    CONSPRCY    |    How big is your tinfoil hat?    |    2,445 messages    |
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|    Message 2,387 of 2,445    |
|    Mike Powell to All    |
|    Ring cuts ties with Flock    |
|    13 Feb 26 11:25:42    |
      TZUTC: -0500       MSGID: 2145.consprcy@1:2320/105 2df48ee7       PID: Synchronet 3.21a-Linux master/123f2d28a Jul 12 2025 GCC 12.2.0       TID: SBBSecho 3.28-Linux master/123f2d28a Jul 12 2025 GCC 12.2.0       BBSID: CAPCITY2       CHRS: ASCII 1       FORMAT: flowed       Ring cuts ties with controversial police tech company after 'dystopian' Super       Bowl ad sparks a huge backlash              By David Nield published 4 hours ago              Can Ring be trusted?               Ring is severing its ties with Flock Safety, linked to law enforcement        Critics are accusing Ring of rolling out 'mass surveillance'        A new Search Party advert has also raised concerns about privacy              Facing increasing criticism over its policies on privacy and data sharing, the       Amazon-owned Ring has severed ties with surveillance tech company Flock Safety       - although it may not be enough to appease many of its critics.              "We determined the planned Flock Safety integration would require significantly       more time and resources than anticipated," says Ring (via The Verge). "As a       result, we have made the joint decision to cancel the planned integration."              Ring also confirmed the integration never actually launched, despite being       announced last October, so no data has been sent between the two companies.       Flock Safety is known to work with government and law enforcement agencies,       including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).              The Ring and Flock Safety partnership was part of Ring's Community Requests       feature, where users can opt to share camera footage with local police to help       in active investigations. That program is continuing, and Ring points out that       it helped identify a key witness in the Brown University shooting in December       2025.              "We remain focused on building tools that empower neighbors to help one another       while maintaining strong privacy protections and transparency about how our       features work," says Ring. "We'll continue to carefully evaluate future       partnerships to ensure they align with our standards for customer trust,       safety, and privacy."              With added facial recognition              A few days ago, Ring also released a new advert showing off its Search Party       feature, which has drawn further complaints from critics, who described it as       "dystopian" - although, like the Flock Safety integration, this isn't new and       was unveiled last year. The idea with Search Party is that if a dog goes       missing, local Ring cameras are used to help spot it. It's enabled by default,       so you need to opt out if you don't like it - but Ring says more than a dog a       day has been found by Search Party since it launched.              Finding lost pooches is a laudable goal, but there are concerns that the same       setup could easily be used to track people. US Senator Ed Markey has described       Search Party as a "mass surveillance" system, especially given that Ring       products can now be programmed to recognize familiar faces too.              Ring says facial recognition data is kept private and secure, and can improve       security by letting you know if it's a family member or a stranger wandering       about your property. It's also a feature available on other security cameras,       including Google Nest Cams. However, users are far from convinced that Ring can       be trusted.              The problem is not the advertised capabilities, but how they could be       repurposed in the future, either with or without public knowledge - a debate       on trust and privacy that will no doubt continue. It seems that plenty of       people have already had enough of Ring's approach, and are returning their       cameras.                     https://www.techradar.com/home/smart-home/ring-cuts-ties-with-controversial-pol       ice-tech-company-after-dystopian-super-bowl-ad-sparks-a-huge-backlash              $$       --- SBBSecho 3.28-Linux        * Origin: Capitol City Online (1:2320/105)       SEEN-BY: 105/81 106/201 128/187 129/14 305 153/7715 154/110 218/700       SEEN-BY: 226/30 227/114 229/110 134 206 300 307 317 400 426 428 470       SEEN-BY: 229/664 700 705 266/512 291/111 320/219 322/757 342/200 396/45       SEEN-BY: 460/58 633/280 712/848 902/26 2320/0 105 304 3634/12 5075/35       PATH: 2320/105 229/426           |
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