Ring Stops Working With Flock Over Privacy Concerns

Ring has ended a short partnership with the surveillance company Flock, which had planned to let home‑security cameras share footage with police. The decision came after a review that found the integration would need far more effort than expected, and no customer videos were ever sent to Flock. The split is unrelated to Ring’s “Search Party” feature that was shown in a recent Super Bowl ad. That ad promoted a tool that lets owners ask nearby cameras to help locate missing pets, and it is still active. Flock had offered to link its AI tools with Ring’s “Community Requests” program, a voluntary system where users can choose to share video clips with law‑enforcement agencies. Critics of Flock’s technology worry that it could provide data to immigration authorities, but the company denies such ties.Even after ending its deal with Flock, Ring remains connected to another police‑tech firm called Axon. Through Axon, police can request footage from Ring users, and the company also works with federal agencies like Homeland Security and the Department of Justice. The controversy grew when people began removing Ring cameras after seeing the ad, sparking a debate about how much surveillance is acceptable in everyday life. While some praise the pet‑search feature for bringing dogs home, others fear it could be a step toward wider police surveillance. Ring says users control what is shared and that the “Search Party” feature does not use AI to identify owners. The company claims it has helped return more than one dog a day, citing the example of a husky named Lainey who was found in Arizona. The ending of the Flock partnership shows how quickly tech companies must adapt when privacy concerns rise and public trust is at stake.