Sammie Ellard-King
I’m Sammie, a money expert and business owner passionate about helping you take control of your wallet. My mission with Up the Gains is to create a safe space to help improve your finances, cut your costs and make you feel good while doing it.
Ring sparked controversy during the Super Bowl with an advert announcing a new AI-powered feature called Search Party.
And it’s automatically enabled for all users.
The feature launched in the US allows doorbell cameras to scan neighbourhoods looking for lost dogs.
But many viewers are worried about what else it could be used for.
What Is Ring's Search Party Feature?
Ring founder Jamie Siminoff explained the feature in the Super Bowl ad: “Before Search Party, the best you could do was drive up and down the neighbourhood, shouting your dog’s name in hopes of finding them.”
The AI-powered system lets anyone report a lost dog through Ring’s Neighbours app.
Then participating Ring cameras automatically start scanning for dogs that match the description.
If your camera detects a potential match, you get an alert.
You can then choose to share the footage with the person looking for their dog, or ignore it.
Siminoff claimed: “Since launch, more than a dog a day has been reunited with their family.”
More news:
Why Are People Calling It Creepy?
The feature is automatically enabled.
If you don’t want an AI-powered camera scanning the area outside your house, you have to opt out manually.
Many Super Bowl viewers weren’t impressed. “Y’all, this Ring Doorbell Camera commercial was creepy as can be. They are not even hiding it anymore,” one person tweeted.
Another added: “Ring offering to turn your neighbourhood into an AI fuelled surveillance state under the guise of ‘helping you find your lost dog’ is CRAZY.”
One viewer pointed out: “Did anyone else think that Ring commercial was really weird. Using your doorbell footage to locate dogs, but now imagine it wasn’t dogs they were using your doorbells footage for.”
This Could Affect More UK Homes Than You Think
According to The Telegraph, one in five UK homes now has a smart camera device of some kind.
The feature is currently only available in the US.
But with Ring doorbells being so popular in the UK, it’s likely to arrive here eventually.
That means millions of UK homes could soon have AI-powered cameras automatically scanning their streets.
Ring told LADbible: “Camera owners choose on a case-by-case basis whether they want to share videos with a pet owner, protecting users’ privacy while also giving them the power to be a neighbourhood hero.”
They added: “With Ring’s Search Party, your privacy is always in your control. You can ignore the alert or choose to share the info with your neighbour in need.”
But the fact it’s automatically enabled means most people won’t even know they need to opt out.
And once the AI is scanning, it’s watching everything that happens in front of your camera, not just lost dogs.
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Disclaimer: Content on this page is for informational purposes and does not constitute financial advice. Always do your own research before making a financially related decision.
