LA police ask Ring owners for footage of protests against police violence

Examples

Location

Emails obtained by EFF show that the Los Angeles Police Department contacted Amazon Ring owners specifically asking for footage of protests against racist police violence that took place across the US in the summer of 2020. LAPD signed a formal partnership with Ring and its associated "Neighbors" app in May 2019. Requests for Ring footage typically include the name of the detective, a description of the incident under investigation, and a time period. If enough people in a neighbourhood agree to share footage, authorities may be able to follow protesters' movements. EFF has seen requests that specified "the recent protests", and is concerned that the LAPD redacted the dates and times requested. LAPD's handling of the protests following the 2020 murder of George Floyd attracted complaints about suppression and disproportionate tactics; at least ten officers were taken off the streets pending internal investigation.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/02/lapd-requested-ring-footage-black-lives-matter-protests

Writer: Matthew Guariglia and Dave Maass
Publication: EFF blog
Publication date: 2021-02-16

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Protestors

Tracking Protest Surveillance

Amazon

Our campaign

Free to Protest

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Protest Surveillance

Public-Private surveillance partnerships

Internet of Things

Surveillance Industry

Our fight

Defending Democracy and Dissent

Protecting Civic Spaces

Target Profile

Amazon

What PI is calling for

Safeguards for Public-Private Surveillance Partnerships

Through our investigative work and the work of our partners around the world, PI has identified a number of issues common to public-private partnerships that involve surveillance technology and/or the mass processing of data. To address these issues, we have defined corresponding safeguards that we