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Digital Rights Group Tells Amazon Ring Owners to Turn Off Cameras This Halloween

The concern is over Amazon's new partnership with Flock, which allegedly shares data with federal and local officials conducting immigration raids.

Headshot of Blake Stimac
Headshot of Blake Stimac
Blake Stimac Writer
Blake has over a decade of experience writing for the web, with a focus on mobile phones, where he covered the smartphone boom of the 2010s and the broader tech scene. When he's not in front of a keyboard, you'll most likely find him playing video games, watching horror flicks, or hunting down a good churro.
Blake Stimac
2 min read
Hands use a push pin to snap off the new Ring Doorbell from its mount.

Digital rights agency calls Ring doorbell owners to turn off their cameras this Halloween, or to stop using them altogether.

 Ring

Fight for the Future, a digital rights group, has issued a warning to Amazon Ring owners, urging them to turn off and cover their cameras during Halloween. The safety advisory comes in response to Amazon's recent partnership with Flock. 

Flock calls itself "a public safety technology ecosystem" that develops security hardware and software systems, including automated license plate recognition software and security cameras. The company has faced increasing opposition from human rights organizations, such as the American Civil Liberties Union, for its collaboration with local police departments.

Fight for the Future specifically highlights Flock's involvement in releasing surveillance footage to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which has been escalating raids and deportation operations under the direction of the Trump administration. Flock has also provided data to law enforcement to assist in investigating people traveling out of state seeking abortion medical care. 

The digital rights agency says it's issuing this advisory before Halloween so everyone "can take action to protect the privacy and safety of all trick-or-treating children and families."

In battleground cities like Chicago, Halloween weekend has become particularly ominous for Latino, Black and migrant households. JB Pritzker, the governor of Illinois, wrote a letter urging Homeland Security and ICE to pause their immigration crackdown: "No child should be forced to inhale tear gas or other chemical agents while trick or treating in their own neighborhood."

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Outside of the Halloween advisory, Fight for the Future also suggests taking the following actions to avoid privacy violations or unintentional data-sharing with federal officials: 

Amazon did not provide a statement by the time of publication.