Over 30 civil rights organizations have penned an open letter that calls on government officials to investigate Amazon Ring’s business practices and end the company’s numerous police partnerships. The letter follows a report by The Washington Post in August that detailed how more than 400 police forces across the U.S. have partnered with Ring to gain access to homeowners’ camera footage. These partnerships have already raised concerns with privacy advocates and civil liberties organizations, which claim the agreements turn neighbors into informants and subject innocent people to greater risk and surveillance... [B]y working with Ring, law enforcement gets to tap into a massive surveillance network without being directly involved in its creation.

... [T]he letter points out these police deals involve Amazon coaching cops on how to obtain surveillance footage without a warrant. It also notes that Ring allowed employees to share unencrypted customer videos with each other... “Amazon Ring’s customers provide the company with the footage needed to build their privately owned, nationwide surveillance dragnet. We’re the ones who pay the cost – as they violate our privacy rights and civil liberties,"... according to Evan Greer, deputy director at Fight for the Future.