"During last weekend's Super Bowl, Ring aired an ad to show off a new function, called "Search Party," which allowed Ring to access devices across an entire neighborhood to find lost pets. The expensive ad massively missed the mark, accidentally implying that Ring cameras are creating an "Orwellian" surveillance network that goes far beyond lost pets. Furious customers started disconnecting and even reportedly destroying their Ring cameras, refusing to be part of a dystopian network of internet-connected spy cameras."
""I think (the commercial) surprised a lot of Americans by revealing just how powerful surveillance networks backed by AI have become," ACLU senior policy analyst Jay Stanley told USA Today. "That power may be applied to puppies today, but where else might it be applied? Searches for people wearing t-shirts with certain political messages on them?""
A 2017 commercial featuring Kendall Jenner provoked fierce criticism for trivializing racial discrimination and police brutality, prompting Pepsi to pull the ad and issue an apology that critics rejected. During the recent Super Bowl, Ring promoted a "Search Party" feature that can access devices across entire neighborhoods to locate lost pets. The commercial implied that Ring cameras can form a broad, interconnected surveillance network, which spurred customers to disconnect or destroy devices rather than participate in what many called an Orwellian system. Civil liberties advocates warned that AI-backed neighborhood searches intended for pets could be repurposed to track people or identify political messages, intensifying privacy concerns. The controversy unfolded amid aggressive immigration enforcement, heightening public fear and contributing to Ring's decision to cancel a partnership with an AI surveillance company.
Read at Futurism
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