FOIA docs show Ring required Lakeland, FL, police to advertise its surveillance cameras in exchange for free products and a portal for requesting footage
though I imagine the PDs see the whole program as a win. Public agencies shouldn't be (1) keeping agreements like this confidential and (2) giving a private company veto over any public discussions about it. https://twitter.com/... Eva / @evacide : 1. The dystopian cyberpunk present gets worse and worse. 2. Jason, how did you resist giving this story the headline License to Shill? https://twitter.com/... Ben Sandofsky / @sandofsky : A tech company running the police is literally the plot of Robocop. https://twitter.com/... @skimbrel : The real lede, buried halfway down: “Police can use [Ring's 'Law Enforcement Neighborhood Portal'] to directly interact with Ring doorbell camera owners and informally request footage for investigations, without a warrant.” uhhh, due process violation much? https://twitter.com/... Peter Bihr / @peterbihr : This is a horrible move by Amazon. Also, what kind of country has a police force that engages is commercial activity? What the heck is going on there? https://twitter.com/... @thomdunn : This is utterly insane. Amazon is literally paying cops a commission incentive to help them spread an unaccountable corporate surveillance network around this town. https://www.vice.com/... Henry Mance / @henrymance : My piece mentioned that US police forces are giving out Amazon's camera-doorbells for free. This is really interesting on how that partnership works https://www.vice.com/... Rachel Levinson-Waldman / @rachelblevinson : “Amazon is convincing ppl to self-surveil through aggressive, fear-based marketing, aided by de facto police endorsements & free Ring camera giveaways. Consumers are opting into surveillance. And police ... capitalize on this wealth of surveillance data.” https://www.vice.com/... Harry Siegel / @harrysiegel : For each civilian it signs up with Ring, the police department gets a $10 Amazon credit-> https://twitter.com/... Alfred / @alfredwkng : Anyways, to this day, Amazon still refuses to disclose how many police departments it's partnered with for Ring https://twitter.com/...