Amazon has acknowledged that it provides footage from its Ring doorbell cameras to law enforcement without owners’ permission, saying it has done so nearly a dozen times this year, but only in the event of ‘emergencies.’
In a letter addressed to Democratic Senator Ed Markey (Massachusetts) and published by the lawmaker on Wednesday, Amazon said it had provided videos to police 11 times so far in 2021, in each case following “a good-faith determination that there was an imminent danger of death or serious physical injury to a person requiring disclosure of information without delay.”
Though the company has maintained a policy allowing for such sharing without owners’ consent, the letter is the first time Amazon has admitted to doing so.
The senator was highly critical of the retail giant in light of the disclosure, raising concerns about “law enforcement reliance on private surveillance,” which he said would create “a crisis of accountability.”
