Amazon Ring doorbell users will no longer be required by law to give U.S. police access to their footage unless a warrant is served.
The device connects with the Neighbors app, which has helped to reunite owners with their missing pets and helped communities in times of need.
Going forward, the request for assistance (RFA) function will not be available to emergency services to request footage.
“This week, we are also sunsetting the request for assistance (RFA) tool,” Amazon Ring said in a blog post. “Public safety agencies like fire and police departments can still use the Neighbors app to share helpful safety tips, updates and community events. They will no longer be able to use the RFA tool to request and receive video in the app. Public safety agency posts are still public and will be available for users to view on the Neighbors app feed and on the agency’s profile.”
“As we look to the future of the Neighbors app, we’re excited for what’s to come, and to see all the ways customers will continue to connect and share with each other and their communities,” the post stated.
Meanwhile, Amazon was recently fined for “excessive” surveillance of its workers.
Amazon France Logistique, which manages the company’s warehouses in France, was penalized with a $34.7 million fine for “excessive” surveillance of its workforce. An investigation into Amazon’s behavior was launched after employees and media companies raised concerns about the working conditions. Amazon was subsequently found to have taken its employee surveillance too far, leading workers to have to justify their breaks during the working day. Furthermore, the National Commission on Informatics and Liberty, an independent regulatory body in France, questioned why the online retail giant needed to retain workers’ data for 31 days.
Earlier this month, meanwhile, Amazon workers announced plans to take strike action in the U.K. in a dispute over pay. The GMB trade union confirmed that workers intended to take strike action on Jan. 25.
