Amazon's Ring is launching its Neighbours community app in the UK on October 21, aiming to provide a more focused alternative to existing social media groups for local safety and community matters. The app will allow users to set their address and a radius for local posts, with moderation by AI and humans. Some US features, like police requests for footage, will be introduced later due to privacy concerns.
The launch of Ring's Neighbours app in the UK introduces a new platform for community communication and safety, potentially impacting how local information is shared and how law enforcement interacts with residents. Concerns over data privacy and the use of surveillance technology in community settings are central to the app's reception.
Amazon's doorbell camera maker, Ring, is launching its Neighbours community app in the UK on October 21, aiming to offer a more focused platform for local safety and community discussions than existing social media groups. The app will be integrated into the existing Ring app and available to all users, regardless of whether they own Ring products.
Ring's managing director of international, Dave Ward, stated that the app aims to recreate the utility of a village noticeboard, filtering out extraneous information often found on platforms like WhatsApp. Users will be able to set their address and a radius of between 0.1 and five miles to define their local community. Posts will be categorized and moderated by both AI and humans before and after publication, with content shared from Ring doorbells and other cameras.
Some features present in the US version of the Neighbours app will not be immediately available in the UK due to privacy concerns. These include 'Neighbours Verified', which allows entities like fire brigades to post advisory messages, and 'Community Requests', which enables police to ask for footage from Ring cameras in response to incidents. These features are planned for release in the UK later this year.
To address privacy fears, Ring has introduced a new default encryption mechanism called TAKE (throw away the key encryption). This system provides Ring's servers with time-limited keys to recordings, meaning access to videos is blocked after 24 hours unless the user explicitly consents to issue new keys via the Ring app. The company also highlighted a 'Search Party for Dogs' feature, allowing users to post about lost pets and enabling neighbours with Ring cameras and cloud subscriptions to opt in to help find them.
Amazon acquired Ring in 2018 for a reported sum exceeding $1 billion.