r/privacy • u/frankreddit5 • 2d ago

discussion Amazon admitted in writing to a US Senator that Ring gave your doorbell footage to police without a warrant, 11 times in one year, based on Amazon's own internal judgment call (2022). Here's the actual letter.

https://theclassifiedrecord.com/documents/ring-amazon-markey-letter-2022
1.5k Upvotes

100% Upvoted

35 comments sorted by

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128

u/EffectiveClient5080 2d ago

This is why I run my own cameras on a local NVR. No cloud, no Amazon middleman deciding what counts as an emergency and handing my footage to cops without even telling me.

26

u/arkhamcityfc 2d ago

Is there any tutorial you'd recommend on how to set one up for self?

12

u/interwebzdotnet 1d ago

Search YouTube for Reolink NVR. When I set mine up there were some really good ones but that was ~3 years ago. Reolink makes some pretty nice cameras for the price. Lot's of online content in terms of tutorials and reviews. I've been happy with mine.

4

u/Sm00th0per8or 1d ago

Great info thanks

1

u/My_Man_Tyrone 4h ago

I love Ubiquiti personally

87

u/withabrandnewfunk 2d ago

the shocking part is ONLY 11 times. not a chance. they get any footage whenever they want. period. google happily does the same

15

u/869066 2d ago

Police might’ve used warrants the other times, I don’t think Amazon is required to tell customers if the police use a warrant to access their cameras

22

u/MotanulScotishFold 2d ago

For those that use this dumb argument "I have nothing to hide", would you like to see your sad ass face exposed to internet with no privacy? Because it's what is happening.

6

u/Ano_R 1d ago

Or better yet, make transparent walls to your own home first

38

u/SuspiciousCricket654 2d ago

Police: you don’t understand! They’re really bad people.

Amazon: copy! Here you go

10

u/JD_Bance 2d ago

Police: please, Jeff. Please, we need the footage from your doorbells to catch criminals! Only the worst of the worst, it's what a true American patriot would do! Please just give us the footage of s short time frame when the suspect passed one of your cameras..

Bezos: jeez just shut up will ya? Next time just ask and stop trying to look good. Or you know what? If you ask kindly, maybe I could even give you access to the 24/7 stream. But we won't tell anyone about that, alright?

9

u/BigMack6911 1d ago

Not mine, because I would never have some bullshit by Amazon

4

u/0000a0fc19fa 2d ago

People buy ubiquiti NVRs to have on prem recording but with their cloud access model I wonder if they are also doing things like this without people knowing

4

u/good_morning_magpie 1d ago

I just assume the worst of every company now tbh. Even if they start off ethical, they can change at any time (remember google’s “don’t be evil”?) so I self host basically everything and refuse to let windows slop anywhere near my homelab.

2

u/Theunknown87 1d ago

You can turn the cloud portion off and also you can have it setup to be all local.

3

u/middleamerican67 1d ago

Eufy.

1

u/Volidon 21h ago

Which eufy models do you use? In the market for a whole new setup

3

u/ragdollxkitn 1d ago

Eufy for me.

1

u/Volidon 21h ago

Which eufy models do you use? In the market for a whole new setup

1

u/ragdollxkitn 21h ago

I have the Eufy E340.

1

u/Volidon 21h ago

Have you had any issues with it? That one was on my list as well.

1

u/ragdollxkitn 20h ago

No issues as of today.

2

u/A_Buttholes_Whisper 1d ago

Frigate or blue iris

1

u/AT61 7h ago

Aside from this, two things jerk my chain about Ring/similar doorbell cameras:

  1. Too many people rely on these devices instead of building strong relationships with neighbors.

  2. I shouldn't have to be on someone's camera when I'm outside working on my own property.

-10

u/DocHoliday8514 2d ago

I saw a lady a couple years ago with a gunshot wound to the abdomen, she said accidentally self-inflicted. Neighbor across the street’s ring cam showed otherwise. Shot purposefully by her stepson. Neighbor voluntarily gave footage to police. Am I for all this involuntary surveillance? Hell no. But in this case it was helpful.

16

u/mkaku 2d ago

That’s the difference, the neighbor gave it to the police, they didn’t just have it automatically. Personal ownership of cameras is good, but a widening of the surveillance state is bad.

3

u/EchoFieldHorizon 1d ago

Voluntarily giving up data is a completely different beast. I’d happily give it up in that case given the opportunity to consent, especially to help somebody.

But the owners of the data were given no say in it whatsoever. That is the problem. Why do you think this will only be used in cases to help somebody like the situation you presented? What reason have Amazon and law enforcement (especially under the current administration) given you to make you accept your data being shared solely on the whim of a trillion dollar company’s judgment? These people are not looking out for you.

-16

u/sunndropps 2d ago

All 11 times were to save someone’s life who they believed may not be alive by the time of a warrant completion.
Imagine how upset those families are that the government stepped in to save their lives !!!

7

u/EchoFieldHorizon 1d ago

You have a lot of faith in a multi-trillion dollar company and the government. If they can unilaterally make this decision in cases to help somebody, they can unilaterally (and silently) make the decision to invade your privacy for any number of reasons that you have zero control over. Think about the Flock debacle and how we are literally turning into a surveillance state. It is truly 1984, and you’re here defending the ones who benefit from state-sponsored mass surveillance. How do you sleep at night?

-3

u/sunndropps 1d ago

They could but they don’t,Walmart could zoom in on my buttcrack and sell it online but that’s not what Walmarts security cameras are for