Ring doorbell cameras will soon no longer allow police officers and departments to request footage from users via its neighborhood watch app, Neighbors. The Amazon-owned company shared in a blog post that it’s planning to shut down its Request for Assistance, or RFA, tool from the Neighbors app this week, which allowed officers to request and potentially receive video footage from the cameras — without the user’s consent, per Fox News. According to CNN, law enforcement must now submit a formal request, such as a warrant or subpoena, to obtain user footage from Ring cameras through the Neighbors app.
Tessa Truman had an ectopic pregnancy, then saw friends and family show up to help on her doorbell camera: a "village" of support. Her TikTok went viral.
Amazon-owned Ring will stop allowing police departments to request doorbell camera footage from users, marking an end to a feature that has drawn criticism from privacy advocates.