A video doorbell or security camera can be useful if you’re keeping an eye out for car thieves, wild animals, or porch pirates. Police departments are paying attention.
“The Ring app has a neighborhood watch-style social network called “neighbors.” law enforcement uses that network in order to request videos from users.” from Consumer Reports’ Dan Wroclawski.
With local law enforcement agencies, Ring has established more than 2500 partnerships to date. Nevertheless, some social justice and digital rights organizations have criticized the program because they believe it unfairly targets communities of color.
Do you have to hand over your video if the police request it? Legally, according to Consumer Reports, no.
“You have a choice as to whether you give the police access to your video or choose to ignore their request.” Says Wroclawski.
It won’t give law enforcement access to your cameras, videos, or any of your personal information if you don’t share the video, according to Ring.
Police can still obtain the video without your permission even though they never have access to the live feed of your ring cameras.
“Police have two ways to access footage that is stored on manufacturer servers in the cloud.” Says Wroclawski.
A search warrant or subpoena is used first. Or they can point to a federal law that permits manufacturers to share video in a situation where there may be a danger to life.
Police may need to come to your home to deliver a search warrant or request the video if it is stored locally on your camera.
Read More: How Long Do Security Cameras Keep Footage?
Source: Komonews
