Ring cameras may plan to track people using AI, according to leaked emails
Source: Mashable Tech
Leaked Email Suggests Expanded Use
404 Media reports that Ring founder and CEO Jamie Siminoff indicated intentions for its cameras to find specific individuals in an email to employees in early Oct. 2025, sent soon after Search Party’s launch.
“I believe that the foundation we created with Search Party, first for finding dogs, will end up becoming one of the most important pieces of tech and innovation to truly unlock the impact of our mission,” Siminoff wrote. “You can now see a future where we are able to zero out crime in neighborhoods. So many things to do to get there but for the first time ever we have the chance to fully complete what we started.”
Siminoff did not explicitly state that Ring intends to turn Search Party toward tracking people, but his comments strongly imply that the current iteration is a foundation—initially for locating pets—while Ring could eventually “zero out crime.”
Facial Recognition & Community Requests
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Facial recognition: Ring introduced facial recognition to its cameras late last year. The company promoted Familiar Faces as a tool for identifying people you know so they don’t trigger alerts, but the Electronic Frontier Foundation warned it could “violate the privacy rights of millions of people.”
(Mashable source) -
Community Requests: In a later email sighted by 404 Media, Siminoff claimed that Ring’s Community Requests feature could have helped find the person who shot and killed conservative commentator Charlie Kirk on Sept. 10, 2024. Introduced on Sept. 4, Community Requests enables law enforcement to directly request footage from Ring users.
“It just shows how important the Community Request tool will be as we fully roll it out,” Siminoff reportedly wrote the day after Kirk’s death, sharing a video of a Utah official speaking about the investigation. “It is so important to create the conduit for public‑service agencies to efficiently work with our neighbors.”
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Ring’s Official Response
In a statement to 404 Media, a Ring spokesperson said that Search Party currently doesn’t track people, though they did not guarantee it would never be used for that purpose.
“Search Party helps camera owners identify potential lost dogs using detection technology built specifically for that purpose; it does not process human biometrics or track people,” the statement read. “Community Requests notify neighbors when local public‑safety agencies ask the community for assistance. Across these features, sharing has always been the camera owner’s choice. Ring provides relevant context about when sharing may be helpful — but the decision remains firmly in the customer’s hands, not ours.”
Mashable has reached out to Ring for further comment.
Leadership Shifts & Mission Changes
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Siminoff left Ring in 2023, but returned to lead the company again in April 2025. Since his return, he has refocused the surveillance‑camera business on collaborating with law enforcement, aligning it with the original mission to “reduce crime in neighborhoods.”
(Business Insider) -
In 2024 Ring re‑positioned itself as more community‑focused, changing its mission statement to “keeping people close to what’s important.” After Siminoff’s return, the tagline shifted again to “making neighborhoods safer.”
Given these changes, utilizing Search Party’s technology to track people aligns more closely with Ring’s current goals than merely finding lost dogs.
A History of Law‑Enforcement Collaboration
Ring has a cosy history with law enforcement, having previously:
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Sent Ring camera footage to police without users’ knowledge or consent.
(Mashable) -
Secretly provided dozens of U.S. police departments with free products and a private portal for requesting footage without a warrant; officers were asked to promote Ring to their local communities in exchange.
(Motherboard, 2019) -
Cancelled its partnership last week with law‑enforcement surveillance company Flock Securi.
(Mashable)
Customer Backlash and Ongoing Partnerships
The above information reflects publicly available sources as of February 2026.
Heightened distrust from customers has reportedly prompted some to disconnect, destroy, or return their devices. Nevertheless, Ring still maintains a partnership with taser‑maker Axon, allowing police to request footage via its evidence‑management system.