Tell MGM: Don’t be complicit in the surveilling of millions of Americans. Cancel the Ring Nation TV series.
Ring Nation will be hosted by Wanda Sykes and will use recorded moments, like family reunions and funny pet bloopers, to put a happy face on Amazon’s surveillance dragnet. But in reality, Ring is anything but safe and friendly.
Amazon Ring products collectively surveil millions of people around the country––from inside consumers’ homes to neighbors playing with young children across the street––amassing large amounts of data on users and bystanders. Amazon uses the data taken from people’s private lives to develop new surveillance technology that enhances its ability to track and record our every move.
It doesn’t stop there. Amazon Ring further endangers our communities by partnering with over 2,000 local police departments, and allows cops to gain warrantless access to footage via its neighborhood surveillance app, Neighbors. In exchange, police shill Ring cameras. Police partnerships are so financially beneficial to Ring that the corporation has even allowed cops to bypass Neighbors entirely and get direct access to footage without user knowledge or judicial review.
Cops accessing Ring footage isn’t the only concern. The Neighbors app also empowers people to self-police their neighborhood, escalating reports of “suspicious people” based on prejudice and personal bias. This amplifies racial profiling and further subjects communities of color to racist policing and criminalization. And in the post-Roe era, the Ring surveillance ecosystem is perfectly positioned to track abortion seekers, whether by capturing the conversations of anyone within 25 feet radius of a Ring camera or recording footage of a health clinic across the street.
Ring is not family-friendly, it’s dangerous, and we can’t let MGM use Ring Nation to put a happy face on this privacy-violating surveillance tool. Tell MGM to cancel Ring Nation immediately.
Petition Text:
Cancel Ring Nation. Ring surveillance cameras pose a direct threat to our privacy, and Ring’s partnerships with the police subvert our Fourth Amendment rights. Millions of people— including users, their families, and casual bystanders—are surveilled daily by Ring cameras. Our whereabouts are tracked. The things we do and say are recorded. This amassed data can be shared with local police departments and their partners in government agencies. Given concerns around racist policing and the criminalization of abortion, the stakes for communities of colors and pregnant people are high.
It’s irresponsible for MGM to promote dangerous surveillance devices, like Ring, as family-friendly. Ring is not safe for families or anyone else. By canceling Ring Nation, you will support privacy rights, and show that you’re stepping up for Black and brown people and abortion seekers.
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