[JohnFen]

> I feel so much safer when I leave town.

Good for you, and if Ring cameras are positioned so that they can't see past your property line, then I have no problem with them.

However, I have a really serious problem with people who install cloudy surveillance cameras -- especially those from Amazon -- in such a way that they capture innocent people walking by your house.

I don't think anyone should have the right to subject such people to surveillance networks like that, and strongly condemn those that do.

[downerending]

If you're worried about being caught on camera while walking about in public, I have some really bad news for you...

[kyboren]

It's not so much a worry about being caught on camera while in public. Please forgive me for assuming, but I don't think JohnFen is particularly concerned about cameras owned and exclusively operated by private citizens disconnected from any network with limited retention.

Amazon Ring is a different beast entirely. With your help, Amazon has even more data--in addition to every other user's raw video feed--and the computing resources to be able to pinpoint a frighteningly large number of people at any given moment.

That's a scary amount of power, and a direct threat to liberty. Aiding and abetting such an enterprise deserves strong condemnation at the least.

[ctvo]

How do you feel about so many people having Gmail accounts? Do you refuse to communicate with them? Imagine the data Google has access to when you send them a message or messages sent about you.

You imply Amazon is willing to use the data it collects for liberty threatening purposes, do you think Google wouldn’t?

To be explicit: at what point do you draw the line and why now with this product and company?

[JohnFen]

> How do you feel about so many people having Gmail accounts? Do you refuse to communicate with them?

My perspective on this is easy -- this isn't a problem I have to deal with much, because almost nobody that I exchange email with uses Gmail.

But yes, I avoid sending email to gmail accounts when feasible. When not feasible, I keep the emails as brief as I can, and I don't engage in lengthy exchanges.

[satanspastaroll]

Just because something is bad, doesen't mean you should make them twice so

[JohnFen]

> I don't think JohnFen is particularly concerned about cameras owned and exclusively operated by private citizens disconnected from any network

This is correct. I'm not worried about the cameras, I'm worried about the database and who is in control of it.