Do you think conversations on your front porch are private?
If you have a Ring camera, it turns out that these moments are NOT private, and they could be airing on the soon-to-be-released television program Ring Nation later this month.
The new reality show is reportedly similar to America’s Funniest Home Video—except instead of home movies, it will air clips from regular people’s Ring surveillance cameras. Civil and privacy rights groups have been sounding alarm bells about the dangers of these devices, including privacy violations and racism, for years.[1][2]
Ring Nation is an embarrassingly transparent attempt to normalize surveillance and manufacture a PR miracle for scandal-ridden Amazon.
What does this have to do with a PAC that is fighting to defeat marijuana prohibitionists?
The honest answer is that Ring cameras represent a tremendous danger to our fundamental privacy rights and when it comes down to it, legal weed and privacy go together like peanut butter and jelly.
Amazon Ring is partnered with over 2,000 local police departments, and allows cops to gain warrantless access to footage via its neighborhood surveillance app, Neighbors.[3] In exchange, the police shill Ring cameras.
Police partnerships are so financially beneficial to Ring that the corporation has even allowed cops to bypass Neighbors entirely and get direct access to footage without user knowledge or judicial review.[4] That’s not a good thing for Ring users who want to make cannabis decisions in the privacy of their own homes.
Together, we’re going to build a world with increased privacy protections AND legal weed.
In solidarity,
Justin
Justin Strekal
Founding Organizer
BOWL PAC
P.S. We’re fighting every day to defeat prohibitionists in Congress, but our average donation is just $13, and Geo Group, the largest private prison corporation in the US, has already spent almost a million dollars just to Republican candidates.[5] Will you chip in $5 a month or more to support our cause? Together, we will better organize and win legalization.
[1] More than 20 civil rights groups and 10,000 supporters protest to shut down Amazon’s surveillance empire
[2] Monitored: How Amazon Undermines the Safety of Workers and Our Communities (Report)
[3] List of law enforcement agencies that have joined Neighbors by Ring
[4] Amazon Admits Giving Ring Camera Footage to Police Without a Warrant or Consent
[5] https://www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus.php?ind=G7000
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