400 police departments join Amazon's connected bells program

According to Ring, the maker of these devices, purchased by Amazon for $ 839 million, these camera-equipped smartbells and the application associated with them, Neighbors, help improve communication between residents and the police stations.

"Today, 405 (police) services use the Neighbors portal, an extension of the Neighbors app that allows police to interact with local communities," Ring executive Jamie Siminoff said in a post of blog.

This unusual partnership allows the police to publish "important information on crime and neighborhood safety events", and "seek help on ongoing investigations by requesting video recordings" from residents according to Mr Siminoff.

However, the program raises fears of broader police surveillance, and some question how video and other data will be collected and stored.

"You have two powerful organizations, Amazon and the police, that are cooperating to push for more surveillance in American neighborhoods, and that's pretty scary and disturbing," said Jay Stanley, an analyst with the powerful ACLU Civil Rights Association. .

For Matthew Guariglia of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the program seems to capitalize on fear.

"By sending photos and alerts every time the camera detects a movement or someone rings the doorbell, the app can create the illusion of a beleaguered home," he wrote recently. a blog post.

"This creates a vicious circle in which the police promote the use of Ring, Ring terrifies people and makes them believe that their homes are in danger, and Amazon sells more cameras."

Amazon reacted by saying "misleading" information circulating on its program.

The e-commerce giant said in a statement that the videos were only shared if the customer agreed or published them, and that the police had to "go through the ring team" if they wanted to request a video from customers.