SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) — A big game ad for ring cameras promised to help find lost dogs. However, concerns over the technology popped up shortly after the commercial aired.
Western Mass News is getting answers on the pros and cons of constant video monitoring, and if users know what exactly they’re signing up for.
We’re living in a time where we can watch our front porch from anywhere in the world. It’s kind of incredible, and kind of creepy. The same camera that catches those porch pirates is also surveilling every single person who walks by your property, and somewhere, someone has all of that footage.
According to Consumer Reports, over ten million Americans use Amazon-owned Ring Cameras on their properties. While other brands of video doorbells exist, ring is the market leader, with Consumer Reports studies indicating it accounts for nearly 50% of the total market.
To understand what that means for privacy concerns, we spoke with Dean Drako, the CEO of Brivo. His company also sells AI powered surveillance systems.
First, we asked him about the big game ad that sparked our conversation, “I think that people were very distressed, or some people were distressed by the, you know, play on, you know, the lost dog kind of concept. And they felt that, you know, that Ring was using that a little bit to overcome or hide some privacy steps that they had overstepped.
That ad promised viewers that they “can be a hero in your neighborhood.” A new feature called “Search party” could help lost dogs find their way home.
It sounds innocent enough, maybe even lifesaving, but concerns popped up after the commercial aired. Multiple outlets, including Forbes Magazine, report that users are automatically opted into the surveillance program. They say customers have to log in and choose to opt out.
Several social media users made their opinions on the ad public. One post with thousands of likes and reposts asking if “Anyone else thought that ring camera finding lost dogs via Ai was ultra dystopian?”
Drako goes on to explain, “The issue that most people had with it was that participation in allowing Ring, the company, to have access to your camera was defaulted on…And so that kind of meant that people were sharing their private information without really knowing what was happening or without actually actively participating.”
He says that these concerns weren’t exaggerated, but surveillance cameras do serve a real purpose, “I find it very helpful to let me know what’s going on when people are arriving, you know, when the when the pool guy might be showing up or the maintenance guy might be showing up…There’s a certain kind of peace of mind that it can give you.”
The value in the technology: Knowing what’s happening on your property at all times.
Those applications go beyond home security. Drako says his company is using AI for gun detection in schools in California. Its technology designed to alert law enforcement in seconds if an active shooting situation occurs.
“Security cameras allow emergency responders to respond faster, to get there more accurately, to be there sooner, to do more and to keep people safer,” he continues.
Technology has changed, but society hasn’t quite caught up. The privacy laws in the United States are not up to date with technology like doorbell cameras.
Drako says those who are concerned have a valid point because the same AI that helps find lost dogs could find people, and the same data that helps emergency responders, could be misused. “We need to have some privacy protections around the use of these so that they are not unnecessarily accidentally or purposely abused, um, by people who, you know, don’t respect other people’s privacy.”
So, here’s what you should know before you install a doorbell camera. According to Ring’s own website, your footage is being analyzed by artificial intelligence, and it can be stored for up to 180 days.
Drako says consumer protections are currently being sorted out, but it will probably take about 10 years before they are well-defined.
Western Mass News also reached out to Ring and Amazon for comment, but we have not heard back.
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