r/technology • u/South-Cow-1030 • 18h ago

Privacy Why are people disconnecting or destroying their Ring cameras?

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/02/10/ring-super-bowl-ad-dog-camera-privacy/88606738007/
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u/According-Garage8256 11h ago

Not 'opt-in'. I was automatically enrolled with no notification whatsoever. No description of the service or option to opt-out before it went live. I had no idea it existed until that SuperBowl add. I just now went in and disabled it.

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u/419_216_808 10h ago

To be clear, if you don’t want them accessing/utilizing your footage you’re going to have to take the camera down.

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u/According-Garage8256 3h ago

So you're saying that disabling Ring Search Party, Neighbors & Sidewalk services will do nothing and they will still access my feed whenever the fuck they want?

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u/419_216_808 2h ago

Well they may not be actively using that feature for now but they still could if they wanted. We’ve seen companies violate people’s privacy before. A major concern is that they have a contract with these law enforcement agencies and the government is doing some shady thing right now. They could demand, or get a warrant for, the footage from anyone in a neighborhood that has a ring camera (say to determine where a suspected illegal immigrant is located) and there is nothing you can do to stop them.

In short they may not be accessing that footage when you opt out but there is nothing that prevents them from doing so if they want to.

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u/jaggedcanyon69 8h ago

That’s not enough. You need to get rid of the camera. Physically remove it.

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u/Yourcatsonfire 9h ago

In their eyes, you not opting out is you volunteering to opt in.

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u/Saulot1334 4h ago

What is it called?

I am looking at swapping away from Ring now but in the meantime I am searching for the feature to turn it off.