Amazon-owned Ring has ended its planned partnership with surveillance technology company Flock Safety after facing mounting backlash over Flock’s work with federal immigration authorities.
The decision follows weeks of criticism from privacy advocates and users who objected to Flock Safety’s reported collaboration with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The proposed integration, first announced in October 2025, would have connected Ring’s Community Requests platform with Flock’s surveillance network.
In a statement published on its blog, Ring said it conducted a review and determined that the integration would require more time and resources than expected. As a result, both companies agreed to cancel the partnership. Ring emphasized that the integration never launched and that no customer video footage was shared with Flock Safety.
The controversy stemmed largely from concerns that Ring footage could be accessed by ICE through Flock’s network. Although Ring maintains that such claims were inaccurate because the integration was never operational, critics pointed to Ring’s past partnerships with law enforcement agencies as evidence of a broader trend toward increased surveillance.
Public reaction intensified in recent weeks, with some users posting videos online of themselves discarding or destroying their Ring cameras. The backlash also coincided with Ring’s Super Bowl advertisement promoting its new AI-powered “Search Party” feature. The commercial showed neighborhood cameras scanning streets to locate a lost dog. While Ring says the tool is limited to finding pets and cannot track people, the imagery sparked renewed fears about the potential for widespread monitoring.
Concerns deepened with the rollout of Ring’s “Familiar Faces” feature, an opt-in facial recognition tool designed to personalize alerts. Critics argue that combining such tools with neighborhood camera networks could lay the groundwork for expanded surveillance capabilities. Ring says the feature is voluntary and designed to give customers more control over notifications while safeguarding their data.
The canceled Flock partnership was part of Ring’s Community Requests program, launched in 2024 after the company discontinued its previous Requests for Assistance initiative, which had drawn criticism for allowing police to request footage without a warrant. Community Requests requires law enforcement agencies to use third-party evidence management systems to maintain proper chain of custody.
Despite ending its work with Flock, Ring continues its partnership with Axon, a law enforcement technology company. The company says no additional integrations are currently planned.
