( PHOTO : AP NEWS)

Noir Nation; just when folks thought the coast was officially clear, Ring Doorbell company has doubled back on its surveillance timing!

The Amazon-owned company has quietly reactivated a feature that allows law enforcement to request video footage from users through a new partnership with Axon, the makers of police body cams.

“This is about going back to the mission I started Ring with—to make neighborhoods safer,” Ring founder Jamie Siminoff told reporters after stepping back in as CEO.

👀 New Partnership, Same Old Surveillance Concerns

Here’s how it works now: If the cops want footage, they can make a formal request via Axon’s portal. Users get a notification and can choose to accept or decline. But many privacy experts aren’t buying the “choice” narrative.

“This isn’t about safety—it’s about control,” one digital privacy advocate warned. Let’s not forget, Ring settled with the FTC in 2023 for $5.8 million over staff misusing customer videos.

And even if you decline, Ring doesn’t tell police who said no—but your footage might still be up for grabs through other means.

⚠️ The Bigger Picture

Ring once boasted about cutting ties with law enforcement to protect user privacy. But this move signals a return to surveillance culture masked as community safety—and some folks aren’t feeling it.

According to reports from The Verge, Ring has faced legal issues in the past after allegedly helping police convince users to share their video footage, back in 2019. In 2023, Ring agreed to pay $5.8 million to settle a lawsuit from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) following claims that its cameras enabled Ring workers and hackers to illegally spy on users.