Leaked Email Suggests Ring Plans to Expand ‘Search Party’ Surveillance Beyond Dogs

https://www.404media.co/leaked-email-suggests-ring-plans-to-expand-search-party-surveillance-beyond-dogs/

“In October, Ring launched Search Party, an on-by-default feature that links together Ring cameras in a neighborhood and uses AI to search for specific lost dogs, essentially creating a networked, automated surveillance system. The feature got some attention at the time, but faced extreme backlash after Ring and Siminoff promoted Search Party during a Super Bowl ad. 404 Media obtained an email that Siminoff sent to all Ring employees in early October, soon after the feature’s launch, which said the feature was introduced “first for finding dogs,” but that it or features like it would be expanded to “zero out crime in neighborhoods.””

“In recent weeks, Ring has also launched a feature called “Familiar Faces,” which uses facial recognition to identify specific friends and family members on a person’s camera. The company also released “Fire Watch,” which uses AI to warn users about fires.”