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Wired magazine recommends against the use of Ring cameras for home security for fear of 'racial profiling'
The Blaze ^ | July 13, 2023 | Joseph Mackinnon

Posted on 07/15/2023 10:34:30 AM PDT by Twotone

The left's resentment of effective means for curbing crime is no longer limited to armed homeowners, robust police forces, stern criminal laws, and effective prosecutors. Now, home surveillance tech has been classed as "dangerous" and potentially racist.

Ring cameras are a popular commodity among those seeking greater security or at the very least some hope of identifying home invaders so that justice can later be meted out.

TheBlaze has previously detailed multiple occasions on which these devices and others like them have been utilized to great effect, highlighting heroics, exposing criminality, documenting statist intimidation efforts, and recording unsettling events.

The prospect that neighbors and communities can coordinate to counter crime, bolster security, report missing pets, and/or look out for one another is condemnable, at least where the tech magazine Wired is concerned. Adrienne So, a senior associate reviews editor at Wired, noted in a July 9 article recently indicated that these devices, while "affordable and ubiquitous," are altogether "dangerous," not only to users but to "society in general."

So reported that upon installing a Ring camera, users are automatically enrolled in the optional Neighbors service.

The Neighbors app is touted as a means of helping "put an end to local crime spree."

The app "uses your address to create a radius around your home. If anyone shares an alert on the app about crime or safety within that radius, you'll get a notification on your phone and tablet. Conversely, if you share an alert on the app about a crime or safety issue in your radius, your neighbors will also get a notification on their phones and tablets."

So fears that homeowners with Ring cameras and the Neighbors app might collaborate with local police services or worse — that the devices might expose the wrong kinds of criminals.

So noted that the Neighbors app enables "Ring owners to send videos they've captured with their Ring video doorbell cameras and outdoor security cameras to law enforcement."

Despite admitting "it is legally not allowed [for police] to access your personal videos or information without your permission" and that Ring owners have the choice not to forward footage of a possible crime to police, So insinuated that law enforcement would access footage for which a warrant is needed.

So's primary concern appears to be less the fact that police might get their hands on incriminating footage but the demographics of those incriminated.

"Neighbors increases the possibility of racial profiling. It makes it easier for both private citizens and law enforcement agencies to target certain groups for suspicion of crime based on skin color, ethnicity, religion, or country of origin," wrote So. "We have been concerned about this issue since Ring started partnering with police departments to hand out free video cameras."

So further suggested, "Putting a frictionless feature directly into Neighbors makes it that much easier for Ring owners to bombard law enforcement with unsubstantiated and possibly biased alarms."

Largely for fear of bias, So recommended against purchasing Ring cameras despite their affordability, because "contributing to a just society is also a factor in keeping your family safe."

Richard Hanania, president of the Center for the Study of Partisanship and Ideology, responded to So's article, tweeting, "I absolutely love this. Ring cameras help solve and prevent crime. What's the problem? If it's too easy and solve and prevent crime, it just means you might start suspecting black people. Ergo, we should make it harder to fight crime. Liberals."

Ted Frank, director of litigation at the Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute, highlighted how Wired alternatively praised Nextdoor, which removed the feature whereby users can submit incriminating videos to the police "in, you guessed it, 2020" — around the time the "defund the police" movement kicked off in earnest.

Revolver suggested, "It's official: liberalism is not only a mental disorder, it's also a death wish."


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: profiling; ringcameras
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To: Twotone

Doing things to keep your home from being broken in is racist?
More evidence of people actively working to break down society .


21 posted on 07/15/2023 11:07:57 AM PDT by HereInTheHeartland (Have you seen Joe Biden's picture on a milk carton?)
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To: Twotone

If the Narrative is based on lies, having video evidence is dangerous.


22 posted on 07/15/2023 11:09:26 AM PDT by Reverend Wright ( Everything touched by progressives, dies !)
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To: Twotone

I am hesitant to make use of this technology in the first place, as Amazon tends to be overly snoopy in collusion with other alphabet agencies. Mind you, I do not invest in tin foil.


23 posted on 07/15/2023 11:32:23 AM PDT by Fester Chugabrew (Seriously.)
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To: Sarah Barracuda
This story is just as ridiculous as the “Only Nazi’s go to gyms” story that some dumb ass leftist wrote.

Only white men who go to gyms are Nazis. It's okay for other people.

24 posted on 07/15/2023 11:39:53 AM PDT by Angelino97
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To: Twotone

That would be racist towards whites since RING is owned by Amazon.


25 posted on 07/15/2023 11:40:43 AM PDT by maddog55 (The only thing systemic in America is the left's hatred of it!)
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To: Twotone

Stop noticing! Deny evidence!


26 posted on 07/15/2023 11:48:39 AM PDT by Mr. Blond
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To: DariusBane
The existence of my ring cameras served as a deterrent.

Same here. Even when the battery goes dead, a solicitor will press the Ring button only so many times and give up. Friends and neighbors know to knock, and have no problem with it. When the Ring is active, it's a great deterrent to ward off bad actors.

27 posted on 07/15/2023 11:49:22 AM PDT by roadcat
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To: Worldtraveler once upon a time

You would have to get a white one and a black one. And don’t get me started on the gender thing.


28 posted on 07/15/2023 11:53:53 AM PDT by Dandy (Drain the swamp baby!!!)
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To: Twotone
Largely for fear of bias, So recommended against purchasing Ring cameras despite their affordability, because "contributing to a just society is also a factor in keeping your family safe."

Bugger off, SJW.

29 posted on 07/15/2023 11:56:03 AM PDT by Allegra (Stop the Zeepers from Censoring FReepers)
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To: Twotone
..."contributing to a just society is also a factor in keeping your family safe."

A just society is one in which the guilty are caught and appropriately punished, and the innocent are left alone.

30 posted on 07/15/2023 11:56:41 AM PDT by JimRed (TERM LIMITS, NOW! Militia to the border! TRUTH is the new HATE SPEECH.)
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To: Sarah Barracuda

Yeah I’m so so about So.


31 posted on 07/15/2023 12:02:26 PM PDT by xp38
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To: Fester Chugabrew
Mind you, I do not invest in tin foil.

Me neither; all I can find is that second-rate aluminum stuff!

32 posted on 07/15/2023 12:02:57 PM PDT by JimRed (TERM LIMITS, NOW! Militia to the border! TRUTH is the new HATE SPEECH.)
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To: Twotone

Doesn’t Ring film white criminals?


33 posted on 07/15/2023 12:23:42 PM PDT by gitmo (If your theology doesn’t become your biography, what good is it?)
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To: Twotone

We have SimpliSafe, so I guess we’re not racists.


34 posted on 07/15/2023 12:29:00 PM PDT by gitmo (If your theology doesn’t become your biography, what good is it?)
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To: gitmo

Eight camera system here with the DVR in a hidden location and the WiFi is destroyed so not to be hacked.
#notaracist
#noNSAwelcome


35 posted on 07/15/2023 12:35:01 PM PDT by SheepWhisperer (Get involved with, or start a home fellowship group. It will be the final church. ACTS 2:42-47)
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To: Twotone
.. potentially racist.

Tough shit .. don't give folks reason to think they need 'em.

36 posted on 07/15/2023 1:01:34 PM PDT by tomkat (SOTU = FUBAR)
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To: Twotone

The most dangerous thing for the black community is to allow white leftists speak on their behalf.

Go to any middle class neighborhood where things are getting spicy. Black neighborhoods. Guess what you’ll find.

Yeah. Lots of cameras.


37 posted on 07/15/2023 1:25:09 PM PDT by Freedom4US
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To: Toddsterpatriot
It’s racist to catch criminals of color.

Apparently, that's the message.

38 posted on 07/15/2023 1:26:26 PM PDT by libertylover (Our biggest problem, by far, is that almost all of big media is AGENDA-DRIVEN, not-truth driven.)
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To: Dandy
But.... but... what about the brown and yellow and red ones? :)

I must say, there is much good humor in all this lunacy, brought to us by the progressives who are never intentionally funny but so very hilarious. Best wishes.

39 posted on 07/15/2023 1:35:47 PM PDT by Worldtraveler once upon a time (Degrow government)
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To: DariusBane

I disagree. His death would be win win.


40 posted on 07/15/2023 1:40:59 PM PDT by EEGator
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