The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) used footage from private home surveillance cameras as part of the Black Lives Matter protests, reports the civil rights organization Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). The technology of “Amazon Ring” has long been criticized, among other things because it increases the ubiquity of surveillance and is now more than 2,000 police and fire departments in the USA (€) make use of Amazon’s neighborhood surveillance in so-called “partnerships”. Through this cooperation, the authorities have an “investigation portal” at their disposal, in which they can send inquiries about material to the owners of the Ring devices.
The EFF asked the police exactly these questions and received severalwho requested material from users from the Black Lives Matter protests between late May and early June 2020. In at least one case, the police also received the requested material from a user. Contacted users can decide for themselves whether they should comply with such a request.
Times blackened out, extent unknown
According to the EFF, it is worrying that the LAPD has blackened the dates and times for which the requested footage was sought. This practice is worrying because if the police request many hours of footage on a particular incident, they may also receive material from people who are simply exercising their constitutionally protected right to demonstrate. Such surveillance practices could intimidate people. The EFF also accuses the LAPD of covering up the amount of surveillance material the police department was trying to obtain.
Los Angeles police downplayed the incident in their response to the EFF. It is not unusual for the police to request the voluntary release of video footage of shops or local residents.
The EFF calls for stricter regulation of private surveillance like Ring. This includes, among other things, greater hurdles when requesting such material, a specific suspicion, but also a clearer indication to Ring users: inside that the release is absolutely voluntary.
Lawsuit in San Francisco
In San Francisco, too, the police used private surveillance camera footage during Black Lives Matter protests and secured real-time access to the cameras for over a week. However, this was not material from Ring users. Meanwhile complains the EFF together with three protesters concerned: inside against this practice.
