Amazon sunsets Ring’s Request for Assistance feature in Neighbors app
Amazon is ending the Request for Assistance feature in its Neighbors app — but that doesn’t mean your footage can’t be obtained by law enforcement easily elsewhere, without a warrant.
In 2021, Amazon-owned Ring launched a new feature called Request for Assistance (RFA). The feature just required law enforcement agencies to make public requests for Ring footage in the Neighbors app, regardless of intent, and without a warrant.
“[T]he footage these cameras collect will still be available to law enforcement through other avenues, especially in municipalities with camera registries,” Greer said in an email.
Camera registry programs are programs that allow individuals and businesses to register their cameras with the local police department, with discounts often given on the hardware for doing so. This gives law enforcement agencies a convenient database of cameras in the area and an easy avenue to petition the owners for any footage captured.
