Ring blocks police access to camera footage after accusations of 'racial profiling'

On Wednesday, Ring announced that it was in the process of removing the "Request for Assistance" tool, which allows law enforcement to request and receive doorbell camera footage via its Neighbors app. The move comes after the company has faced accusations of "racial profiling.” 

Authorities will still be able to utilize content captured by the Amazon-owned company's devices in their investigations, only now they must first obtain a search warrant.

"This week, we are also sunsetting the Request for Assistance (RFA) tool," Neighbors Head Eric Kuhn wrote in a blog post on Ring's website, explaining that law enforcement "will no longer be able to use the RFA tool to request and receive video in the app." 

"Public safety agencies like fire and police departments can still use the Neighbors app to share helpful safety tips, updates, and community events," he noted, adding that such posts "are still public, and will be available for users to view on the Neighbors app feed and on the agency's profile." 

Ring's relationship with law enforcement has been called into question in recent years, with the Neighbors app receiving the brunt of the criticism. 

"Neighbors increases the possibility of racial profiling," tech magazine Wired argued in a 2023 article, claiming that giving users the ability to share footage of potential crimes "makes it easier for both private citizens and law enforcement agencies to target certain groups for suspicion of crime based on skin color, ethnicity, religion, or country of origin."

Ring has also introduced new community guidelines to "reduce the chances of misunderstandings, implicit bias, and profiling," requiring users to only submit reports based on objective actions, not speculation. 

The move comes nearly three years after the company changed its policy to make law enforcement's request for footage publicly visible in the app. Until then, such interactions had been private. 

In an interview with KING5 News, a spokesman with the Kent Police Department in Washington state said, while the new policy will have a "slight impact" on investigations, in the end, Ring is simply "a gateway." 

"The real tool is the video, the evidence," he added. "The smallest piece of evidence in any investigation can really help solve the crime."