Ring calls off partnership with police surveillance provider Flock Safety
Published: (February 12, 2026 at 10:17 PM EST)
2 min read
Source: Engadget
Source: Engadget
Background
Ring announced in October 2025 that it was entering a partnership with surveillance company Flock Safety. The collaboration would have allowed law‑enforcement agencies to request video footage captured by Ring’s smart doorbells.
Details of the Proposed Partnership
- Law‑enforcement agencies using Flock’s Nova platform or FlockOS could have employed Ring’s Community Requests feature to ask for doorbell videos.
- Requests would have required:
- A specific location and timeframe.
- A unique investigation code.
- Details about what was being investigated.
- The request would be forwarded to relevant Ring users, who could optionally share their footage.
- Ring stated the process would have been anonymous and optional for users.
Ring’s History with Law Enforcement
- Ring has shared security‑camera videos with police without a court order or the owner’s consent at least 11 times in the past.
- In 2024, Ring announced it would stop sharing videos with police without a warrant, signaling a shift away from its earlier police‑friendly stance.
- The planned Flock integration would have marked a return to closer police collaboration.
Controversy Over the Super Bowl Ad
Ring faced backlash for a Super Bowl advertisement promoting its Search Party feature, which uses AI to identify lost pets by pooling camera feeds.
- Although Search Party was introduced the previous year, the ad raised concerns about mass surveillance and potential misuse.
- Many users disabled the feature on their cameras in response.
Cancellation of the Partnership
Ring later announced that the Flock Safety integration “would require significantly more time and resources than anticipated.” The decision to end the partnership was described as mutual, and the integration was never launched—no Ring customer footage was ever sent to Flock.