Amazon unveiled a new tracking system at a time when Americans are debating the value of persistent surveillance.

A Super Bowl ad for Ring security cameras boasting how the company can scan neighborhoods for missing dogs has prompted some customers to remove or even destroy their cameras.

Online, videos of people removing or destroying their Ring cameras have gone viral. One video posted by Seattle-based artist Maggie Butler shows her pulling off her porch-facing camera and flipping it the middle finger.

Butler explained that she originally bought the camera to protect against package thefts, but decided the pet-tracking system raised too many concerns about government access to data.

“They aren’t just tracking lost dogs, they’re tracking you and your neighbors,” Butler said in the video that has more than 3.2 million views.

  • WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    2·
    21 hours ago

    Even people that are very low information on technology, know that the Internet is a source of potential surveillance, and having your info on the internet in any form is a potential for being surveilled. Everybody knows that all the big IT companies are trying to gather as much information as they can. And Amazon is right at the top among them.
    So to claim they were ignorant of Amazon possibly collecting and sharing their data is a bit far fetched IMO.

    you are largely overestimating the capabilities of the average consumer. most don’t even know on a surface level how the internet works, and what dangers it poses.