did my civic duty today:went to a local donut shopnoticed they had a new ring camera up

@Viss @Herndonite

Just curious... Did you read the Snopes article before making assumptions about the intent of the person who posted it? (Full disclosure - I did not due to the pay wall)

But, Snopes is exremely reputable, so regardless of whether it supports the claim or not it's a worthy contribution to the conversation.

@Viss PS - love your original post. Just though you were a little harsh unnecessarily.

@IT_SME its internet etiiquite

did my civic duty today:
went to a local donut shop
noticed they had a new ring camera up.
i ask the nice hispanic girl behind the counter "hey you know ice can see through that ring camera, right?"
she goes UHHHH NO WTF I HAVE ONE AT HOME
"tear it out of the wall. yank the power. ring gives ice free access to those"

@Herndonite but the bigger question, is why are you defending flock and ice?

@Viss “Ring does not provide ICE with direct, free, or automatic access to user camera footage. While Ring has partnered with Flock Safety to aid local law enforcement, Ring has stated that it does not share footage with federal immigration authorities. However, law enforcement can request footage via legal processes or through user consent, and local, state, or federal authorities might still access footage via partnerships with third-party, surveillance-integrated platforms.”
Google Search

did my civic duty today:
went to a local donut shop
noticed they had a new ring camera up.
i ask the nice hispanic girl behind the counter "hey you know ice can see through that ring camera, right?"
she goes UHHHH NO WTF I HAVE ONE AT HOME
"tear it out of the wall. yank the power. ring gives ice free access to those"

@Viss
Lesson learned.

I will add, that I see lots of people posting claims on Mastodon which on reflex I agree with and am tempted to pass along. However, if it is something I have not seen other information on, I will check it out myself. That way I am not unintentionally spreading misinformation.

The right has made a meal out of posting lies and spreading unfounded fear knowing that their base will not verify their claims. I think those of us on the other side, should strive to be better.

@Viss “Ring does not provide ICE with direct, free, or automatic access to user camera footage. While Ring has partnered with Flock Safety to aid local law enforcement, Ring has stated that it does not share footage with federal immigration authorities. However, law enforcement can request footage via legal processes or through user consent, and local, state, or federal authorities might still access footage via partnerships with third-party, surveillance-integrated platforms.”
Google Search

@Viss what a time to be alive huh.

It is literally like "Yo we got Nazis, but they are supported by everyday tech bought by everyday people."

which allows local law enforcement agencies to request video from Ring customers who use its Neighbors app

So, if a local law enforcement agency is collaborating with ICE, and the local cops request access to the video from the customer, and the customer uses Ring's Neighbors app, and the Ring user allows local cops to have access to their feed, then, yes, ICE can see it.

But no, according to all verifiable information, having a Ring camera doesn't automatically mean ICE can spy on your video feed.

If you don't want to use the camera on principle because Flock is terrible (they are), and local cops shouldn't give ICE access to their surveillance network (they shouldn't), that's totally valid.

But don't just make stuff up.

@Viss@mastodon.social @Herndonite@mastodon.online

@ppxl now i got replyguys up my ass screaming at me because im 'making shit up'

@Viss wait what?! I mean over the last year I stumbled over countless, independent reports of Ring-to-ICE, and I even dont wanted that in the first place.

So. Very. Reality. Filtering.

@ppxl scroll through the replies, man, theyre public

@Viss oh the first couple presented to me didn't seem so. But jeez. In a timeline like this giving bad actors the benefit of the doubt is absolutely cray-cray or even lip service

@ewhac i have not personally seen a bunch of press about it, but if theyre run by amazon, its definitely worth looking into.

@ewhac @Viss I would hesitate to give any 3rd party access to a camera or mic where I live. It just seems like a bad idea. Even the stuff that doesn't automatically connect to the cloud is suspect, which is why they added a light and sometimes a physical slide cover for laptop cameras.

@503bartley @Viss Link unshortened, if anyone is interested: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/10/ring-cameras-are-about-to-get-increasingly-chummy-with-law-enforcement/

@ahltorp @zymurgic very frustraiting trend recently where 'delete account' actually means 'just make it so i cant access it but keep all the data and information you have about me online forevermore'