John,
The worst case scenario is happening—cops have real-time access to video from Amazon Ring cameras. 1
Sign the petition to shut this program down now.
Police in Jackson, Mississippi have started a 45 day pilot program to live stream video from Amazon Ring home surveillance cameras. This network of live video would be available for police to watch at any time without a warrant. The city will merely persuade residents to sign waivers granting unfettered access to live footage from their home cameras. 2
The first of its kind, this program takes an irreversible step of police having real-time access to thousands and thousands of cameras throughout the city. As Amazon has expanded Ring surveillance devices to enable video capture from mailboxes, cars, and indoor drones, footage will not be limited to users’ front lawns but will eventually include footage of every home on the street and every area a vehicle has driven through. 3
With over 1,550 Amazon-police surveillance partnerships, this program would allow the state and federal government to watch and monitor live streams from multiple cities simultaneously. 4
If we don’t stop this now, we’ll be enacting an unprecedented national consumer-fueled police surveillance state with no oversight or accountability.
Sign the petition to immediately stop police from enacting this 24 hour live monitoring surveillance network.
TAKE ACTION
Without the knowledge or consent, millions of people—neighbors, delivery workers, and children—will be caught up in this warrantless surveillance dragnet. This erodes fundamental basic rights that are the underpinning of our individual civil liberties and our democracy.
It’s the early stages of the pilot program, so if we mobilize a massive grassroots backlash then we can shut it down.
The elected officials in Jackson have already shown a willingness to address surveillance concerns––they recently banned facial recognition.5 We just need to take widespread action to stop this program in its tracks before other cities adopt it.
Join us in putting an end to this Amazon-police surveillance state. Sign the petition here.
End Government + Corporate Surveillance,
Ayele, Fight for the Future
Footnotes:
1. Vice. https://www.vice.com/en/article/v7memd/police-are-tapping-into-ring-cameras-to-expand-surveillance-network-in-mississippi
2. Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/ring-doorbells-live-video-security-camera-police-fusus-2020-11
3. Vice. https://www.vice.com/en/article/bv8qjq/amazons-ring-announces-an-entire-line-of-dystopian-surveillance-devices
4. Amazon Ring-Police Partnership Map. https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1eYVDPh5itXq5acDT9b0BVeQwmESBa4cB&ll=36.19459170250794,-103.96982876449249&z=4
5. Jackson Free Press. https://m.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2020/aug/20/jackson-bans-facial-recognition-tech-new-airport-a/
Fight for the Future works to protect your rights in the digital age.
