Ring’s controversial, AI-powered “Search Party” feature isn’t intended to always be limited only to dogs, the company’s founder, Jamie Siminoff, told Ring employees in an internal email obtained by 404 Media.
In October, Ring launched Search Party, an on-by-default feature that links together Ring cameras in a neighborhood and uses AI to search for specific lost dogs, essentially creating a networked, automated surveillance system. The feature got some attention at the time, but faced extreme backlash after Ring and Siminoff promoted Search Party during a Super Bowl ad. 404 Media obtained an email that Siminoff sent to all Ring employees in early October, soon after the feature’s launch, which said the feature was introduced “first for finding dogs,” but that it or features like it would be expanded to “zero out crime in neighborhoods.”
“This is by far the most innovation that we have launched in the history of Ring. And it is not only the quantity, but quality,” Siminoff wrote. “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. 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.”
Archive: http://archive.today/xKxOd
86 Comments
ugandan_airways@lemmy.zip · 196 pts · 172d
No way! It seemed so authentic when they said they’d search for dogs.
OppaGundamStyle@discuss.tchncs.de · 5 pts · 171d
Imagine how evil you have to be to use dogs to sell mass surveillance.
marlowe221@lemmy.world · 132 pts · 172d
I’m shocked! Shocked, I tell you.
Ok… I’m not shocked at all.
resipsaloquitur@lemmy.world · 123 pts · 172d
Imagine spending millions on an ad to alert people to your evil scheme.
Proof that you don’t have to be smart to be rich and powerful.
daychilde@lemmy.world · 72 pts · 172d
It shows you how insular these people must be. That ad was the result of meeting after meeting, plan after plan. They had convinced themselves that the public would eat it up. We would be like "Holy shit that's amazing, let's give you ALL our data and video and privacy!". They actually thought we would go for it. lol.
sanpo@sopuli.xyz · 73 pts · 172d
To be fair, I'm actually pleasantly surprised that people didn't go for it.
It's not like majority of people seemed to give a shit about privacy not too long ago...
Glitchvid@lemmy.world · 31 pts · 172d
Same.
I was sure the emotional manipulation tactic would be extremely effective. Guess it was a little too blatant, even for the general public.
AbidanYre@lemmy.world · 17 pts · 172d
My 12 year old was sold on the idea. But she's 12 and may love dogs more than people.
BassTurd@lemmy.world · 15 pts · 172d
I'm in my 30s and I like most dogs more than most people.
doctordevice@lemmy.ca · 10 pts · 172d
Yep, 99% of dogs beat 99.99999% of people. And 99% of cats do the same.
Cocodapuf@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 171d
I'm with you on dogs.
But i'd never trust a cat... They know why.
hector@lemmy.today · 6 pts · 172d
They are megalomaniacs, the owners and ceo's that were chosen by those owners' and their board members. They surround themselves with yes men, anyone telling them they are wrong will be removed from their lives, as they fashion themselves after the president and other leaders above them that do the same.
some_designer_dude@lemmy.world · 16 pts · 172d
The proof for that is abundant.
modus@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 172d
Have you seen the grammar used in emails to & from Trump & Epstein?
resipsaloquitur@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 172d
There’s a technical reason for all the equal signs, but you’re right in general that they seem stupid.
resipsaloquitur@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 171d
https://www.elizabethspiers.com/on-the-epstein-files-and-oligarchs-with-room-temperature-iqs/
hector@lemmy.today · 65 pts · 172d
No kidding? Next thing you will be telling us that chatcontrol and age checks on the internet will be used for more than just protecting kids from pedophiles and be extended to crushing dissent and opposition and democracy itself, and building social scores on us with all information including these cameras that will be used secretly against us in a way we cannot know or challenge to determine our jobs, background checks, police scrutiny, how courts and government treats you, how business treats you, the prices you are offered online and in digital price tag stores (coming soon,) and even what search results you are shown. All calculated by the antichrist's company, for said pedophile or pedophile adjacent politicians deciding which of us are undesirable, and given a way to slip names of people into the bad score list themselves, always a selling perk under the table to leaders.
It's always just a trojan horse to get in the walls. It will never end with finding pets, with stopping child abuse, what have you. They find the instance that no one can disagree with then accuse people of helping child abusers, maybe you are a child abuser yourself! It's not subtle. All done by people that are mostly on the epstein's redacted and unreleased pages for actually fucking children.
LordCrom@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 171d
Dont forget claims they also ate children.
foodandart@lemmy.zip · 46 pts · 172d
You know.. here's the thing..
Years ago, I'd be on Reddit and reading the usual rants and raves about the government, and how the public should be wary of it and we are heading into a security state.. and I always positied that the real threat actors WRT privacy and security were going to be companies like facebook and google and the businesses that made internet-connected devices.
Compared to them, as far as data colleciton and surveillance of people - the government was filled with rank amateurs.
I'd consistently get downvoted or pooh-poohed for being "naive."
God fucking dammit.. on this.. I am absolutely pissed off that I was calling this one - and have been - for over a decade.
FML, I hate this SOOOOOO much.
U7826391786239@lemmy.zip · 31 pts · 172d
SnoringEarthworm@sh.itjust.works · 7 pts · 172d
Sounds like naked people in a cage wondering about which is more dangerous: the leopard or the lion.
Prove_your_argument@piefed.social · 5 pts · 172d
It's certainly frustrating pointing out obvious end results and seeing all the fanboys and normies call you a conspiracy theorist or just dunk on you.
There's no such thing as privacy anymore. People still believe it exists, but it's dead and gone.
hector@lemmy.today · 3 pts · 172d
You can bet none of those people that argued with you and ridiculed your predictions will admit it now. That personality never will. How far back are we talking about with those predictions though out of curiousity?
foodandart@lemmy.zip · 3 pts · 171d
Oooh, IIRC it dawned on me about the time that facebook insisted all users have their actual names on their pages. (I can't remember when that was, maybe 2012 or 2013? Not sure, it was a while ago however.)
That was the red flag for me.
It was also the point when I deleted my posts and comments on fb (it took months to get it all) then unfriended everyone and logged out for a month. When I logged back in I had a handful of comments on the (ex-)friends pages that popped up, since the feed will scour the servers to show you content on your home page, so I re-friended them, deleted the comments, logged out and waited another month. After the last time I logged in (I did four deletion waves of comments) fb was showing me totally random strangers "I Might Know.."
Perfect.
I then changed up my primary email on FB to my yahoo throwaway, logged out for another month, logged in with the new email and made a totally fake name for myself.. Who I am does not exist on facebook, nor are any friends or family listed as friends and no one can see anything on my page.
samus12345@sh.itjust.works · 45 pts · 171d
I have to say, it's nice that they got called out on this immediately for a change.
UnspecificGravity@piefed.social · 38 pts · 172d
The whole "find lost dogs" thing was likely the result of a single meeting with the agenda item "how do we sell this thing we are already doing as anything other than mass surveillance for state actors?" They probably ended it early.
hector@lemmy.today · 4 pts · 172d
Blatantly ripping off the chatcontrol and age checks reasoning, and the masterbaitorbase. To protect the children, and stop pedophiles, we need to id every account, and every ip, connected to your likeness and government id, in the hands of private interests to verify at that, and record everything you say, look at , and do, combining all information on you, private from data brokers to this and government, to run ai threat assessment and social scores to secretly determine winners and losers, run by the antichrist's company, the guy that said he wants to spray his critics with fentanyl from drones.
Who could argue against surrendering every and all information to the worst companies in the world to use their dystopian new technology on if it's for the kids? I mean they know the dangers to the kids as the antichrist was a great eptein pal. It's transparent.
Adalast@lemmy.world · 33 pts · 171d
And in other breaking news: the sky is blue, tree pretty, and fire hot.
village604@adultswim.fan · 4 pts · 171d
Only if it's a lemon tree.
Crackhappy@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 171d
As long as there are no whores about.
faythofdragons@slrpnk.net · 3 pts · 171d
I bet we could convince the lemon stealing whores to join the lemon party.
0x0@lemmy.zip · 3 pts · 171d
Hey! It's their chinese year, show some respect!
Elroc@lemmus.org · 2 pts · 171d
A lemon tree, my dear Watson?
DarkFuture@lemmy.world · 32 pts · 172d
Why anyone would have non-locally hosted video surveillance in and around their home is beyond me.
You're basically begging corporations/governments to spy on you.
nosuchanon@lemmy.world · 15 pts · 172d
This is what the data centers are for. And also why all hard drive capacity for 2026 has already been sold. Video takes up a massive amount of space.
hector@lemmy.today · 1 pts · 172d
Weirstone@lemmy.world · 31 pts · 171d
XLE@piefed.social · 30 pts · 172d
Between Ring and Jeffrey Epstein, it's surprising how explicit criminals are about their criminal intentions.
WanderingThoughts@europe.pub · 5 pts · 172d
When a criminals moves into the palace, the nation changes into mob turf.
hector@lemmy.today · 2 pts · 172d
The western gangster king. The eastern gangster king being putin.
5oap10116@lemmy.world · 28 pts · 172d
homes@piefed.world · 26 pts · 172d
They lied?!
Nurse_Robot@lemmy.world · 23 pts · 172d
No shit
Somecall_metim@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 20 pts · 172d
I am Jack's complete lack of surprise.
Earthman_Jim@lemmy.zip · 19 pts · 171d
Ancient book of Arabic numerals reveals 2 comes after 1.
FauxLiving@lemmy.world · 18 pts · 171d
Bluefalcon@discuss.tchncs.de · 16 pts · 172d
What if your kid runs off? Your elderly mother wondered off? A break in was reported down the road? What if all non whites are labeled terrorist? We need to watch you 24/7. Obey
Red_October@piefed.world · 16 pts · 172d
Yeah, we all saw that coming and it's exactly why everyone's freaking out about it.
Raiderkev@lemmy.world · 16 pts · 172d
Lol fucking duh
BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today · 15 pts · 171d
It's about dogs and crime. Sure.
mech@feddit.org · 15 pts · 171d
pineapplelover@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 14 pts · 172d
c/noshitsherlock
pelespirit@sh.itjust.works · 13 pts · 172d
FYI -
ZILtoid1991@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 171d
Breaking news: Fire is hot.
FauxLiving@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 171d
Ok guys, hear me out.
I need you to buy these cameras and put them on your face.
We will record your video for you and keep it safe for you and never give your data to anybody and we'll do all of this for free.
We'll also give you all of the software and setup all of the servers for you. Don't you worry your silly head about needing to learn anything about how to use technology, just give us your life-long dependence as we'll take care of everything. Also, AI.*
Also, you will help save puppies and children and you are on the side of puppies and children, right? This is a great deal! You can stop reading here, just click the button to agree... for the puppies.
* ::: spoiler spoiler You also grant to us full, exclusive, worldwide, in perpetuity, until the sun falls the rights to use your likeness, words, thoughts, essence, and produces in any manner that we, in our sole discretion, see fit and you also agree to submit to binding arbitration for any disputes
In exchange, We will never give away your data. But we will ruthlessly exploit OUR licensed copy of your data to sell to anybody who can do a wire transfer. :::
NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 171d
No shit Sherlock
KirbyBoi66@lemmy.org · 12 pts · 172d
Boycott ring
Quill7513@slrpnk.net · 12 pts · 171d
fuckin'… they were expanding into dogs to distract from what the system was really for
JasonDJ@lemmy.zip · 5 pts · 171d
I never even heard of it before the superb owl ad. I couldn't believe how dirty it was to tug at our heartstrings to make us pay them to spy on us.
What the fuck, America?
Pricklesthemagicfish@reddthat.com · 6 pts · 171d
Wait till you learn about flock cameras and the raven sound detection
echodot@feddit.uk · 1 pts · 171d
Is that the one listening out for gunshots? I don't necessarily have a problem with that unless it's listening in on conversations or something. But that would be a pretty good mic.
Quill7513@slrpnk.net · 5 pts · 171d
always assume the equipment of our open air prison panopticon is more capable than they admit, but also never let them stop you from speaking truth
Pricklesthemagicfish@reddthat.com · 4 pts · 171d
No its only for listening for lost dog barks. /s
LordCrom@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 171d
Hell, they were saying it was for dogs so stupid people would get their heart strings pulled and blindly sign up.
panda_abyss@lemmy.ca · 12 pts · 172d
Wait… what?!
They mean to cats too, right?!?
myfunnyaccountname@lemmy.zip · 11 pts · 171d
Y’all just need to think about the shareholders.
Rentlar@lemmy.ca · 10 pts · 172d
Oh, thank god, I was worried if there might not be a worldwide surveillance dragnet for in case I lost a pet iguana.
MedicPigBabySaver@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 172d
Fucking scumbags.
discocactus@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 171d
😱
BigMacHole@sopuli.xyz · 6 pts · 172d
And they can ONLY Achieve this MONUMENTAL and IMPORTANT Task of Global Surveillance if we give THEM Tax Breaks! How EXCITING!
-American Politicians!
Etterra@discuss.online · 6 pts · 172d
And in other "no shit" headlines...
captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works · 6 pts · 172d
No Duh?!
UltraMagnus0001@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 172d
I'm.... flabbergasted. Unbelievable. Who would've thought?
Atelopus-zeteki@fedia.io · 6 pts · 172d
CREEE PEEEE!
U7826391786239@lemmy.zip · 6 pts · 172d
fubarx@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 172d
Anyone remember "Police Blotter" reports in local papers? Some were funny.
But they mostly gave people a very dark view of the world outside. This led to metal bars on doors and windows, sale of pricey security systems, and folks walking around scared of their shadow. That all moved over to apps like NextDoor, Citizen, and Ring's Neighbors.
Fear is a primal driver. People on those apps are constantly reporting "odd looking people" in their neighborhood. Not surprisingly, the pet "Search Party" feature goes through Neighbors. Those same users are primed to see bad people everywhere. They will happily accept any feature that promises "zero crime neighborhoods."
ANY feature.
ToTheGraveMyLove@sh.itjust.works · 5 pts · 172d
pikachu_face.jpg
kn0wmad1c@programming.dev · 4 pts · 172d
Sorry, I only have a YouTube link for this: https://youtu.be/ROFblZ_-9q4
If you haven't seen it, Wyse (Ring competitor) released a pretty funny ad about this.
jabberwock@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 3 pts · 172d
FWIW, Ring announced they were canceling their partnership with Flock a few days ago following the Superbowl ad where they were universally dragged. https://blog.ring.com/about-ring/ring-and-flock-cancel-partnership/
Do I think Ring is still running some sort of analytics on video feeds? Probably. Should you put anything from Amazon directly in the trash? Absolutely.
Silver lining I guess is that public pressure still works at least a little when companies try to go straight dystopian.
SparroHawc@lemmy.zip · 4 pts · 171d
The partnership will happen later on when the noise has died down, and it won't be publicized.
ChunkMcHorkle@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 171d
Yeah, exactly. That shit's not gone at all. It's just hidden for now. And if we the public don't pay for it directly as a feature, these companies will still scoop up the data and just sell it to each other.
DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 171d
They're still doing the same with a different company. Don't remember the name.
jabberwock@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 3 pts · 171d
Well I'll be got-damned, looks like Search Party is a feature native to the Ring Neighbors platform and separate from the whole Flock partnership. https://www.cnet.com/home/security/what-does-rings-search-party-ai-pet-tracking-do-to-your-privacy-i-got-the-details/
Specifically, this feature appears opt-out, so if someone does have a Ring camera, good idea to take a spin through the settings. Or, the easiest remediation was my original suggestion, chuck it in the bin (or responsibly dispose of it, if you can).
LordCrom@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 171d
Hell my relatives gifted me an amazon Alexa. I never even opened the box it came in. Lol
DoucheBagMcSwag@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 3 pts · 172d
BOLO: Leftist dissenter. Apprehend at all costs.
Uploading to search party for facial match.......
Steve@startrek.website · 3 pts · 172d
Duhhhhhhhhh
minorkeys@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 172d
Yeah it's called tracking everything that's happening and feeding it to AI so AI can predict and alert the owners of whatever we they decided is important to know about and predict, like threats to their power and ambitions by the stupid masses who should just accept they're slaves.
Lettuceeatlettuce@lemmy.ml · 2 pts · 172d
Breaking News! Multiple forks discovered in kitchen, exclusive coverage tonight at 11:00!
RizzRustbolt@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 172d
Birds?