Amazon's video doorbell service Ring has delivered video to law enforcement 11 times this year

Amazon said that so far this year, Ring, the company's video doorbell service, has provided law enforcement with 11 videos without users' consent.

Amazon said the company provided the videos to law enforcement in an emergency. On Wednesday, Sen. Edward Markey, a privacy-conscious senator, released a letter on the topic sent to him by Amazon in response to a question he had sent to the company.

Brian Huseman, Amazon's vice president of public policy, wrote in the letter: "In each case, Ring genuinely determined that someone was in imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm, and therefore Information about it must be disclosed.”

Amazon also said 2,161 law enforcement agencies use its Neighbors Public Safety Service, which allows police and other law enforcement officials to request video footage of Ring users.

" Law enforcement's growing reliance on private surveillance has created an accountability crisis, " Markey said in a statement.

Amazon Ring said in a statement that the company's offering of the video was in compliance with the law. "The law authorizes companies like Ring to provide information to government entities if the company believes that an emergency involving any person in danger of death or serious bodily harm is taking place (such as kidnapping or attempted murder) and therefore requires no delay," the statement said. disclosure of information.”

In the letter, Hussman declined to specify when Ring technology could capture audio or how sensitive the audio recording would be. For Ring users, the recording feature can be easily disabled.

Hussman also declined to commit to end-to-end encryption as the default encryption for Ring data. Ring services can use end-to-end encryption, but some features will be unavailable.

Markey said he was concerned that Amazon and other tech companies would start using biometric data in their systems, noting that he and some other lawmakers had introduced a bill that would limit law enforcement's access to such information.