Ring's Search Party aims to use its network of outdoor cameras to connect people with their lost dogs. It's been around since last fall, and recently expanded to let people who don't own a Ring camera to submit lost dog reports to the system, which the Amazon-owned Ring highlighted in a Super Bowl ad this weekend.
Ring says the feature has helped find over a dog a day in the US since it first launched. However, the feature is on by default, meaning all Ring devices automatically monitor for lost pets unless the user turns it off, prompting some security concerns.
How to Turn Off Ring Search Party
(Credit: Amazon)If you'd rather not contribute to your neighborhood Search Party, you can turn it off.
- Open the Ring app to the main dashboard and tap the three-line hamburger menu.
- Tap Control Center
- Select Search Party
- Tap Enable or Disable under Search for Lost Pets
- Tap the blue Pet icon next to Search for Lost Pets to turn the feature on or off for each camera.
Being Neighborly or Slippery Slope to Mass Surveillance?
Security concerns popped up again this weekend after the Super Bowl ad aired. Some people online likened the AI-driven system to Skynet, while others said it's "just pure darkwave propaganda to normalize that Ring is using that data for other things besides checking our doors," and "training wheels for mass human surveillance."
A few people were less concerned; "Thinking outside the box to unite pets & families," one wrote. "Pretty nifty," said another. However, most were concerned about a slippery slope.
For now, Search Party only applies to dogs, though Ring has said it plans to add additional pet-tracking features to its cameras. When a dog is reported missing in the Ring Neighbors app, participating cameras will start scanning their surroundings for the pooch. If a potential match is found, the camera owner will be alerted. They can then compare images from their camera with photos of the missing dog, and either alert their neighbor to possible matches or ignore.
"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 neighborhood hero," Ring says. Search Parties expire after a set amount of time, but you can restart it if Ring hasn't found your dog yet.
“Now, pet owners can mobilize the whole community—and communities are empowered to help—to find lost pets more effectively than ever before," says Ring Founder Jamie Siminoff. "That’s why we believe it’s so important to make this feature available to anyone who shares a lost dog post in Neighbors.”
Separately, Ring says it will spend $1 million to help equip animal shelters across the country with Ring camera systems, which should cover more than 4,000 facilities.