Notes from the Electronic Cottage 10/15/20: Ring Doorbells and Police

Producer/Host: Jim Campbell

Been recorded on a video camera lately? If you don’t think so, you might be wise to not be so sure. If you’ve walked down a street lately, there is a reasonable chance that someone’s doorbell was watching you pass by and recording your movements as long as you were within the doorbell camera’s field of vision. Think that is a great idea here in the land of the free? Quite a few police departments, well over 400 across the country, seem to think it’s such a good idea that in many cases they are using taxpayer dollars to help pay for these “Ring” video doorbells. And, by the way, Ring is owned by Amazon. Oh yeah, and the police can “request” video recorded by homeowners’ cameras without a warrant. Good idea? See what you think.