In this day and age, privacy is one of the public’s most critical concerns. At any given moment, there’s at least one connected device in each home. This device can record and send visual or audible information to, well, ANYONE! This is why companies try their hardest to reassure people that their data remains private. However, something always seeps through. Whether the company surreptitiously breaks the rules they set forth or they hide a little loophole in the terms of service. However it happens, many people just don’t feel safe when they buy a new connected gadget. In the company’s defense, it offered this statement: “It’s simply untrue that Ring gives anyone unfettered access to customer data or video, as we have repeatedly made clear to our customers and others. The law authorizes companies like Ring to provide information to government entities if the company believes that an emergency involving danger of death or serious physical injury to any person, such as a kidnapping or an attempted murder, requires disclosure without delay. Ring faithfully applies that legal standard.”
However…
It’s not as cut and dry as that. With any situation like this, there’s always the question of what law enforcement wanted with the footage and who it was tracking down. Neither the company nor law enforcement disclosed the nature of the 11 clips that were given up. We have no idea if the footage was actually indicative of any wrongdoing. This muddies things, as there’s rampant corruption, racism, sexism, homo/transphobia, and other horrible prejudices that pervade the upper levels of authority. There’s no telling if law enforcement could demand footage that will falsely imprison or indict a person.
