Corporate Surveillance and Privacy

A Super Bowl ad for Ring’s new “Search Party” AI feature — which Ring says is designed only to help find lost dogs and “doesn't process human biometrics or track people” — prompted widespread consumer backlash (including device destruction, refund demands and nearly half of social‑media mentions turning negative) after many viewers feared the tech could track people. The controversy sharpened scrutiny of law‑enforcement access to home and license‑plate cameras after the FBI director said agents could “excavate” deleted doorbell footage and reports surfaced that Flock Safety may allow ICE access to its database, leading cities to pause contracts and Amazon to end its Flock partnership.