Ring has quietly reversed course on its previous decision to restrict video sharing with law enforcement. Back in April, Axon, the company behind Taser and digital evidence systems, announced a new partnership with Ring. The collaboration allows police to now request relevant video footage from Ring users directly through Axon’s management platform — a capability Ring once rolled back .
Ring had previously discontinued its “Request for Assistance” feature—which let police solicit video via the Neighbors app for non‑emergency situations. At that time, the company said they’d limit police requests to emergencies only. But that still allowed officers to access footage without a warrant, raising serious privacy concerns .
Under the new integration, law enforcement sends a request via the Axon system. Ring users receive the prompt and can decline or accept. If they agree to share, the footage is encrypted and securely added to the official case file. Ring says users who refuse will not be identified to police . A report also indicates Ring is exploring a livestreaming option from cameras—if users consent .
Jamie Siminoff, Ring’s founder and Amazon executive overseeing Ring, Blink, Amazon Key, and Sidewalk, framed the move as aligned with Ring’s core mission. He highlighted the platform’s aim to strengthen connections between neighbors and public safety agencies to “keep neighborhoods safe” .
However, this evolution opens old wounds. Ring has previously faced criticism for allegedly pressuring users to share video footage with authorities. A 2019 Motherboard report detailed how Ring-enabled police access could potentially skirt consent. And in 2023, Ring paid $5.8 million to settle an FTC lawsuit alleging its cameras enabled unauthorized access to private video qnd audio .
By 2021, Ring had already formed partnerships with over 2,000 police and fire departments across nearly every U.S. state, prompting questions about the extent of law enforcement reliance on its platform .
