Ring, Flock cancel footage sharing deal following Super Bowl ad backlash

Amazon-owned home security and smart home device maker Ring has terminated its partnership with police surveillance tech firm Flock Safety allowing the sharing of doorbell camera footage with law enforcement, following a Ring Super Bowl ad that raised privacy concerns among consumers, according to The Record, a news site by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.

While Ring already has a collaboration with police surveillance tech company Axon, its deal with Flock which was first announced in October has been more contentious as multiple cities scrapped deals with the automated license plate reader camera firm after it had shared data with police without proper authorization. Amazon stressed that no videos have been shared between Ring and Flock as the deal never went live.

"Following a comprehensive review, we determined the planned Flock Safety integration would require significantly more time and resources than anticipated," said an Amazon spokesperson.

Such a development comes after Amazon was noted by Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., to have inadvertently exposed potential privacy and civil liberty risks in its Super Bowl ad that demonstrated the use of surveillance tech in finding lost pets.