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JoseMartinezFirstEssay 6 - 17 Mar 2021 - Main.JoseMartinez
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>
> | Revision 6 is unreadable | |
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| META TOPICPARENT | name="FirstEssay" |
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Fear and Loathing on the Front Porch: Amazon’s Ring and “Surveillance” Capitalism
-- By JoseMartinez - v2 20 Jan 2021
Most tech companies profit from consumers’ fear of missing out, but Ring prefers to home in simply on their fear. Ring, Amazon's home security company, produces video doorbells and offers a social platform for users to upload and interact with footage. In so doing, Ring’s entire model hinges not only on literal surveillance, but also on surveillance capitalism as it commodifies its users’ personal data (their worst fears included). The company has partnered with police departments throughout the country to market its products and to facilitate information sharing with the state. Amazon’s full-fledged foray into home security may ostensibly put its users' minds at ease, but it also has the potential to erode community relationships and civil liberties.
Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
A Brief History
Like many modern products and services, Ring was born out of an entrepreneur’s search for a solution to a problem. In 2014, the company began producing WiFi? -connected video doorbell cameras and pitched them as a deterrence for home intruders. Ring later expanded its product line to include night-vision cameras and LED lights, and it became a full-suite security company.
And like many novel products and services, Ring was acquired by a tech behemoth. In 2018, Amazon purchased the company, enabling it to enter the home security market. Later that year, Ring launched Neighbors, a mobile application where users share camera footage and discuss crime and safety in their neighborhood.
How Ring Engages Users
Ring doorbell owners receive phone notifications when someone rings the doorbell or if someone or something is detected by the camera. Users can respond to the action and save the recorded footage. As part of its subscription service, Ring may store recordings for longer periods and even offers monitoring services.
Ring also operates a social platform, Neighbors. Doorbell owners and non-owners alike can download the app and report nearby suspicious activity. Users display anonymous identifiers (i.e., Neighbor43) and may upload videos from their doorbell cameras or submit warnings via text posts. News digests are sent out periodically and users can issue emergency alerts that are sent to all nearby users when they deem that someone or something poses a credible threat.
Relationships with Police Departments
Ring has partnered with over 400 police departments in the United States to further its goal of making neighborhoods safer. These relationships involve the direct marketing of products to consumers by police. Ring also offers discounted and bulk sales of its devices to a number of law enforcement agencies and, in turn, the agencies distribute them at a discount or for free throughout their communities.
In some localities, Ring also allows police to contact its users so that they may request footage from a user whose doorbell camera may have captured footage of criminal activity. While users may deny the request, Amazon also complies with search warrants requesting video footage, and there is no indication of whether the company or police agree to limit the sharing in any way.
No, Really, Be My Neighbor
However, by design, Ring is not simply a tool for securing the household. Instead, it takes cues from platforms like Facebook to command attention and trigger the user's emotions. Rather than lust, envy, and solitude, Ring exploits its users' chronic anxieties about their surroundings to generate more engagement and, as a result, more demand for Ring's products and services.
This effect becomes more pronounced when users are peppered with their neighbors' concerns about crime and safety. The receiver becomes thrusted into a feedback loop in which other people’s fears and distrust are reflected back to them. While proponents can characterize Ring as a modern neighborhood watch, the platform amplifies the dangerous hyper-vigilance associated with local watch groups in the first place: Users can look at their phone screens and easily sound the alarm when a suspicious courier walks by or when multiple people are gathered on the corner. There is, then, a heightened potential for neighbors to take action against people based on anonymous, speedy, and remote online reports that ultimately reach a large amount of people.
Ring’s doorbell recording itself also poses data privacy concerns not only for users but for those who are recorded by the devices. The software can recognize people who come into the camera’s view and footage is centrally stored in Amazon’s cloud servers. As such, recordings made by a user's own device on their own property and of other people could conceivably be held in perpetuity without them ever becoming aware. The widespread adoption of Ring and other security platforms means that users gain some property protection in exchange for privacy in their own home. Every "smart" indoor camera, motion sensor, and smoke detector in their homes creates piecemeal a state-sanctioned vigilance network. Ring's pursuit of partnerships with law enforcement not only results in increased brand awareness, but also cements the company as a willing pseudo-arm of the security state.
Conclusion
Ring’s model offers us a perfected execution of a service in the age of surveillance capitalism. Like other services and applications we've come to study in this class, the product competes with other apps for a user’s attention. However, by exploiting people’s fears about their safety and the sanctity of their property, platforms like these flip a person's deep vulnerabilities into profit. Under the guise of protecting communities, Ring and similar platforms can instead have adverse effects on neighbor relations and, in light of its cooperation with the stat, its practices raise important questions about the safety and security of its own users moving forward.
You are entitled to restrict access to your paper if you want to. But we all derive immense benefit from reading one another's work, and I hope you won't feel the need unless the subject matter is personal and its disclosure would be harmful or undesirable.
To restrict access to your paper simply delete the "#" character on the next two lines:
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JoseMartinezFirstEssay 5 - 21 Jan 2021 - Main.JoseMartinez
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| META TOPICPARENT | name="FirstEssay" |
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Fear and Loathing on the Front Porch: Amazon’s Ring and “Surveillance” Capitalism | |
<
< | -- By JoseMartinez - 09 Oct 2020 | >
> | -- By JoseMartinez - v2 20 Jan 2021 | | | | |
<
< | While most technology companies profit from consumers’ fear of missing out, Ring prefers to home in simply on their fear. Ring, Amazon home security company, produces video doorbells that record suspicious activity and offers a social platform for users to upload and interact with footage. In so doing, Ring’s entire model hinges not only on literal surveillance, but also on surveillance capitalism as it commodifies its users’ personal data (their worst fears included). Additionally, the company has partnered with police departments throughout the United States to market its product and to facilitate information sharing with the state. Amazon’s profitable foray into home security has the potential to erode community relationships and civil liberties. | >
> | Most tech companies profit from consumers’ fear of missing out, but Ring prefers to home in simply on their fear. Ring, Amazon's home security company, produces video doorbells and offers a social platform for users to upload and interact with footage. In so doing, Ring’s entire model hinges not only on literal surveillance, but also on surveillance capitalism as it commodifies its users’ personal data (their worst fears included). The company has partnered with police departments throughout the country to market its products and to facilitate information sharing with the state. Amazon’s full-fledged foray into home security may ostensibly put its users' minds at ease, but it also has the potential to erode community relationships and civil liberties. | | | Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
A Brief History | |
<
< | Like many modern products and services, Ring was born out of an entrepreneur’s search for a solution. The company began producing WiFi? -connected doorbell cameras in 2014 and pitched them as a deterrence for intruders. It expanded its product line to include night-vision cameras, LED lights, and sirens to become a full-suite security company. | >
> | Like many modern products and services, Ring was born out of an entrepreneur’s search for a solution to a problem. In 2014, the company began producing WiFi? -connected video doorbell cameras and pitched them as a deterrence for home intruders. Ring later expanded its product line to include night-vision cameras and LED lights, and it became a full-suite security company. | | | | |
<
< | And like many products and services, Ring was acquired by a tech behemoth. In 2018, Amazon purchased the company for $1.1 billion, which enabled it to enter the home security market. Later that year, Ring launched Neighbors, a mobile application where users share and discuss posts related to crime and safety in their neighborhood, including footage recorded from doorbell cameras. | >
> | And like many novel products and services, Ring was acquired by a tech behemoth. In 2018, Amazon purchased the company, enabling it to enter the home security market. Later that year, Ring launched Neighbors, a mobile application where users share camera footage and discuss crime and safety in their neighborhood. | | | How Ring Engages Users | |
<
< | The primary way a Ring doorbell owner interacts with the product is not revolutionary: Users receive notifications on their phone when someone rings the doorbell or if someone or something is detected by the camera. Users are able to interact through the mobile application and can respond to the person ringing and save the recorded footage. As part of its subscription service, Ring also stores data for longer and provides other monitoring services for users. | >
> | Ring doorbell owners receive phone notifications when someone rings the doorbell or if someone or something is detected by the camera. Users can respond to the action and save the recorded footage. As part of its subscription service, Ring may store recordings for longer periods and even offers monitoring services. | | | | |
<
< | The secondary means by which Ring encourages engagement is through its social platform. In the Neighbors application, doorbell owners and non-owners who can simply download the app can report suspicious activity in a given geographic area. Users display anonymous identifiers (i.e., Neighbor43) and may upload videos from their doorbell cameras or submit text posts to highlight suspicious activity. Digests of happenings in a neighborhood are sent out frequently, as well as notifications of events which a user deems critical enough to warrant a notification for all users. | >
> | Ring also operates a social platform, Neighbors. Doorbell owners and non-owners alike can download the app and report nearby suspicious activity. Users display anonymous identifiers (i.e., Neighbor43) and may upload videos from their doorbell cameras or submit warnings via text posts. News digests are sent out periodically and users can issue emergency alerts that are sent to all nearby users when they deem that someone or something poses a credible threat. | | | | |
<
< | No, Really, Be My Neighbor
Consequences and Implications of Ring’s Services | >
> | Relationships with Police Departments | | | | |
<
< | However, by design, Ring is not simply a tool for the user to receive information about their own household—instead, it commands attention and triggers the user’s emotions to generate more interaction with the application and demand for Ring’s other security products. As users are peppered with notifications about happenings in their neighborhood, a user becomes thrusted into a feedback loop in which other people’s fears and distrust are reflected to them on a legitimized platform which purports to make neighborhoods safer. | >
> | Ring has partnered with over 400 police departments in the United States to further its goal of making neighborhoods safer. These relationships involve the direct marketing of products to consumers by police. Ring also offers discounted and bulk sales of its devices to a number of law enforcement agencies and, in turn, the agencies distribute them at a discount or for free throughout their communities. | | | | |
<
< | Moreover, while proponents envision Ring as a modern neighborhood watch, it also amplifies the dangers of neighborhood watch groups in the first place. Users are quick to raise the alarm when a suspicious courier walks by their camera or when multiple people are gathered together. There is, then, a heightened potential for neighborhoods to take action against people deemed suspicious by an anonymous report made online that ultimately reaches a considerably large amount of people. | >
> | In some localities, Ring also allows police to contact its users so that they may request footage from a user whose doorbell camera may have captured footage of criminal activity. While users may deny the request, Amazon also complies with search warrants requesting video footage, and there is no indication of whether the company or police agree to limit the sharing in any way. | | | | |
<
< | Finally, Ring’s doorbell recording itself also poses data privacy concerns. The software can recognize people who come into the camera’s view and footage is centrally stored in Amazon’s cloud servers. A user’s data is also critical for increased engagement with the services as users receive notifications and content from Ring’s advertising partners based on their location. | | | | |
<
< | Relationships with Police Departments | >
> | No, Really, Be My Neighbor | | | | |
<
< | Perhaps more concerning than Ring’s engagement strategy is its ongoing pursuit of partnerships with law enforcement agencies. Since the company was started, it has partnered with over 400 police forces in the United States. Like its promise to its users, these relationships are predicated on making neighborhoods safer. | >
> | However, by design, Ring is not simply a tool for securing the household. Instead, it takes cues from platforms like Facebook to command attention and trigger the user's emotions. Rather than lust, envy, and solitude, Ring exploits its users' chronic anxieties about their surroundings to generate more engagement and, as a result, more demand for Ring's products and services. | | | | |
<
< | One dimension of this relationship involves the direct marketing of devices through the police. In some instances, Ring has offered discounted and bulk sales of its products for law enforcement agencies and the agencies in turn distribute them throughout communities. As a result, Ring is able to portray itself as an arm of the state to at least spread its brand, if not to sell more devices outright. | >
> | This effect becomes more pronounced when users are peppered with their neighbors' concerns about crime and safety. The receiver becomes thrusted into a feedback loop in which other people’s fears and distrust are reflected back to them. While proponents can characterize Ring as a modern neighborhood watch, the platform amplifies the dangerous hyper-vigilance associated with local watch groups in the first place: Users can look at their phone screens and easily sound the alarm when a suspicious courier walks by or when multiple people are gathered on the corner. There is, then, a heightened potential for neighbors to take action against people based on anonymous, speedy, and remote online reports that ultimately reach a large amount of people. | | | | |
<
< | The other major way in which Ring works with law enforcement is by giving police a direct channel to its users. In some places, Ring allows police to contact its users so that they may directly request footage from a user living in an area where a crime has occurred. While users may deny the request, Amazon also complies with search warrants requesting video footage and there is no indication of whether the company or police agree to limit the sharing in any way. As such, recordings by a user’s own devices on their property can conceivably be used against them or other people without ever being aware. | >
> | Ring’s doorbell recording itself also poses data privacy concerns not only for users but for those who are recorded by the devices. The software can recognize people who come into the camera’s view and footage is centrally stored in Amazon’s cloud servers. As such, recordings made by a user's own device on their own property and of other people could conceivably be held in perpetuity without them ever becoming aware. The widespread adoption of Ring and other security platforms means that users gain some property protection in exchange for privacy in their own home. Every "smart" indoor camera, motion sensor, and smoke detector in their homes creates piecemeal a state-sanctioned vigilance network. Ring's pursuit of partnerships with law enforcement not only results in increased brand awareness, but also cements the company as a willing pseudo-arm of the security state. | | | Conclusion | |
<
< | In sum, Amazon Ring’s model offers a perfected execution of a service in the age of surveillance capitalism. Like other services and applications, the product competes for a user’s attention. However, by exploiting people’s fears about their safety and that of their property, Ring is able to most effectively turn user’s data into profit under the guise of protecting communities. Yet, its effects on neighbor relations and its cooperation with the state raises other questions about the safety and security of its users moving forward.
A very good first draft, clear and informative. There's room to condense that by at least 200 words. The best way to improve the draft, in my view, is to recover that space for your own idea about all this, whatever it is. I believe that the current draft reflects an implicit version of the idea: that Ring is a method of using a different fundamental human emotion than that characterizing each of the other platforms—physical fearfulness and need for perimeter security—to achieve engagement and to control the doorpost. Made clearer, derived from its source in the comparative social psychology of the platforms, and with a bolder conclusion that allowed the reader to follow out new ideas on her own, the net draft could be outstanding.
| >
> | Ring’s model offers us a perfected execution of a service in the age of surveillance capitalism. Like other services and applications we've come to study in this class, the product competes with other apps for a user’s attention. However, by exploiting people’s fears about their safety and the sanctity of their property, platforms like these flip a person's deep vulnerabilities into profit. Under the guise of protecting communities, Ring and similar platforms can instead have adverse effects on neighbor relations and, in light of its cooperation with the stat, its practices raise important questions about the safety and security of its own users moving forward. | | |
You are entitled to restrict access to your paper if you want to. But we all derive immense benefit from reading one another's work, and I hope you won't feel the need unless the subject matter is personal and its disclosure would be harmful or undesirable. |
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JoseMartinezFirstEssay 4 - 15 Nov 2020 - Main.EbenMoglen
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| META TOPICPARENT | name="FirstEssay" |
|---|
| |
<
< | It is strongly recommended that you include your outline in the body of your essay by using the outline as section titles. The headings below are there to remind you how section and subsection titles are formatted. | | | Fear and Loathing on the Front Porch: Amazon’s Ring and “Surveillance” Capitalism | | | In sum, Amazon Ring’s model offers a perfected execution of a service in the age of surveillance capitalism. Like other services and applications, the product competes for a user’s attention. However, by exploiting people’s fears about their safety and that of their property, Ring is able to most effectively turn user’s data into profit under the guise of protecting communities. Yet, its effects on neighbor relations and its cooperation with the state raises other questions about the safety and security of its users moving forward. | |
>
> |
A very good first draft, clear and informative. There's room to condense that by at least 200 words. The best way to improve the draft, in my view, is to recover that space for your own idea about all this, whatever it is. I believe that the current draft reflects an implicit version of the idea: that Ring is a method of using a different fundamental human emotion than that characterizing each of the other platforms—physical fearfulness and need for perimeter security—to achieve engagement and to control the doorpost. Made clearer, derived from its source in the comparative social psychology of the platforms, and with a bolder conclusion that allowed the reader to follow out new ideas on her own, the net draft could be outstanding.
| | |
You are entitled to restrict access to your paper if you want to. But we all derive immense benefit from reading one another's work, and I hope you won't feel the need unless the subject matter is personal and its disclosure would be harmful or undesirable.
To restrict access to your paper simply delete the "#" character on the next two lines: |
|
|
JoseMartinezFirstEssay 3 - 09 Oct 2020 - Main.JoseMartinez
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| |
| META TOPICPARENT | name="FirstEssay" |
|---|
It is strongly recommended that you include your outline in the body of your essay by using the outline as section titles. The headings below are there to remind you how section and subsection titles are formatted. | |
<
< | Fear and Loathing on the Front Porch: Amazon’s Ring and Surveillance Capitalism | >
> | Fear and Loathing on the Front Porch: Amazon’s Ring and “Surveillance” Capitalism | | | -- By JoseMartinez - 09 Oct 2020 | |
<
< | While most technology companies profit from consumers’ fear of missing out, Ring prefers to home in simply on their fear. Ring, Amazon home security company, produces video doorbells that record suspicious activity and offers a social platform for users to upload and interact with footage. In so doing, Ring’s entire model hinges not only on literal surveillance, but also on surveillance capitalism as it commodifies its users’ personal data (their worst fears included). What’s more, the company has partnered with police departments throughout the country to market its product and to facilitate information sharing with the state. Amazon’s profitable foray into home security has the potential to erode community relationships and civil liberties. | >
> | While most technology companies profit from consumers’ fear of missing out, Ring prefers to home in simply on their fear. Ring, Amazon home security company, produces video doorbells that record suspicious activity and offers a social platform for users to upload and interact with footage. In so doing, Ring’s entire model hinges not only on literal surveillance, but also on surveillance capitalism as it commodifies its users’ personal data (their worst fears included). Additionally, the company has partnered with police departments throughout the United States to market its product and to facilitate information sharing with the state. Amazon’s profitable foray into home security has the potential to erode community relationships and civil liberties. | | | Won’t You Be My Neighbor? | | | And like many products and services, Ring was acquired by a tech behemoth. In 2018, Amazon purchased the company for $1.1 billion, which enabled it to enter the home security market. Later that year, Ring launched Neighbors, a mobile application where users share and discuss posts related to crime and safety in their neighborhood, including footage recorded from doorbell cameras. | |
<
< | User Engagement | >
> | How Ring Engages Users | | | | |
<
< | The primary way a Ring doorbell owner interacts with the product is not revolutionary: Users receive notifications on their phone when someone rings the doorbell or if someone or something is detected by the camera. Users are able to interact through the mobile application and can respond to the person ringing and save the recorded footage. | >
> | The primary way a Ring doorbell owner interacts with the product is not revolutionary: Users receive notifications on their phone when someone rings the doorbell or if someone or something is detected by the camera. Users are able to interact through the mobile application and can respond to the person ringing and save the recorded footage. As part of its subscription service, Ring also stores data for longer and provides other monitoring services for users. | | | The secondary means by which Ring encourages engagement is through its social platform. In the Neighbors application, doorbell owners and non-owners who can simply download the app can report suspicious activity in a given geographic area. Users display anonymous identifiers (i.e., Neighbor43) and may upload videos from their doorbell cameras or submit text posts to highlight suspicious activity. Digests of happenings in a neighborhood are sent out frequently, as well as notifications of events which a user deems critical enough to warrant a notification for all users. | |
<
< | Consequences and Implications | >
> | No, Really, Be My Neighbor | | | | |
<
< | However, by design, Ring is not simply a tool for the user to be in the know—instead, it commands attention and triggers the user’s emotions to generate more interaction with the application and demand for Ring’s other security products. As users are peppered with notifications about happenings in their neighborhood, a user becomes thrusted into a feedback loop in which other people’s fears and distrust are reflected to them on a legitimized platform which purports to make neighborhoods safer. | >
> | Consequences and Implications of Ring’s Services | | | | |
<
< | Moreover, while proponents envision Ring as a modern neighborhood watch, it also amplifies the dangers of neighborhood watch groups in the first place. Users are quick to raise the alarm when a suspicious courier walks by their camera or when multiple people are gathered together. There is, then, a heightened potential for neighborhoods to take action against people deemed suspicious by an anonymous reporting online that reaches a considerably large amount of people. | >
> | However, by design, Ring is not simply a tool for the user to receive information about their own household—instead, it commands attention and triggers the user’s emotions to generate more interaction with the application and demand for Ring’s other security products. As users are peppered with notifications about happenings in their neighborhood, a user becomes thrusted into a feedback loop in which other people’s fears and distrust are reflected to them on a legitimized platform which purports to make neighborhoods safer. | | | | |
<
< | Finally, Ring’s doorbell recording itself also poses data privacy concerns. The software can recognize people who come into the camera’s view and footage is centrally stored in Amazon’s cloud servers. A user’s data is also critical for increased engagement with the services as users receive notifications and content from Ring’s advertising partners based on their location. | >
> | Moreover, while proponents envision Ring as a modern neighborhood watch, it also amplifies the dangers of neighborhood watch groups in the first place. Users are quick to raise the alarm when a suspicious courier walks by their camera or when multiple people are gathered together. There is, then, a heightened potential for neighborhoods to take action against people deemed suspicious by an anonymous report made online that ultimately reaches a considerably large amount of people. | | | | |
<
< | No, Really, Be My Neighbor | >
> | Finally, Ring’s doorbell recording itself also poses data privacy concerns. The software can recognize people who come into the camera’s view and footage is centrally stored in Amazon’s cloud servers. A user’s data is also critical for increased engagement with the services as users receive notifications and content from Ring’s advertising partners based on their location. | | | Relationships with Police Departments | |
<
< | Data Sharing with the State | >
> | Perhaps more concerning than Ring’s engagement strategy is its ongoing pursuit of partnerships with law enforcement agencies. Since the company was started, it has partnered with over 400 police forces in the United States. Like its promise to its users, these relationships are predicated on making neighborhoods safer.
One dimension of this relationship involves the direct marketing of devices through the police. In some instances, Ring has offered discounted and bulk sales of its products for law enforcement agencies and the agencies in turn distribute them throughout communities. As a result, Ring is able to portray itself as an arm of the state to at least spread its brand, if not to sell more devices outright.
The other major way in which Ring works with law enforcement is by giving police a direct channel to its users. In some places, Ring allows police to contact its users so that they may directly request footage from a user living in an area where a crime has occurred. While users may deny the request, Amazon also complies with search warrants requesting video footage and there is no indication of whether the company or police agree to limit the sharing in any way. As such, recordings by a user’s own devices on their property can conceivably be used against them or other people without ever being aware. | | | Conclusion | |
>
> | In sum, Amazon Ring’s model offers a perfected execution of a service in the age of surveillance capitalism. Like other services and applications, the product competes for a user’s attention. However, by exploiting people’s fears about their safety and that of their property, Ring is able to most effectively turn user’s data into profit under the guise of protecting communities. Yet, its effects on neighbor relations and its cooperation with the state raises other questions about the safety and security of its users moving forward. | | |
You are entitled to restrict access to your paper if you want to. But we all derive immense benefit from reading one another's work, and I hope you won't feel the need unless the subject matter is personal and its disclosure would be harmful or undesirable. |
|
|
JoseMartinezFirstEssay 2 - 09 Oct 2020 - Main.JoseMartinez
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| META TOPICPARENT | name="FirstEssay" |
|---|
| |
<
< | | | | It is strongly recommended that you include your outline in the body of your essay by using the outline as section titles. The headings below are there to remind you how section and subsection titles are formatted. | | | It is strongly recommended that you include your outline in the body of your essay by using the outline as section titles. The headings below are there to remind you how section and subsection titles are formatted. | |
<
< | Paper Title | >
> | Fear and Loathing on the Front Porch: Amazon’s Ring and Surveillance Capitalism | | | -- By JoseMartinez - 09 Oct 2020 | |
>
> | While most technology companies profit from consumers’ fear of missing out, Ring prefers to home in simply on their fear. Ring, Amazon home security company, produces video doorbells that record suspicious activity and offers a social platform for users to upload and interact with footage. In so doing, Ring’s entire model hinges not only on literal surveillance, but also on surveillance capitalism as it commodifies its users’ personal data (their worst fears included). What’s more, the company has partnered with police departments throughout the country to market its product and to facilitate information sharing with the state. Amazon’s profitable foray into home security has the potential to erode community relationships and civil liberties.
Won’t You Be My Neighbor? | | | | |
<
< | Section I | >
> | A Brief History | | | | |
<
< | Subsection A | >
> | Like many modern products and services, Ring was born out of an entrepreneur’s search for a solution. The company began producing WiFi? -connected doorbell cameras in 2014 and pitched them as a deterrence for intruders. It expanded its product line to include night-vision cameras, LED lights, and sirens to become a full-suite security company. | | | | |
>
> | And like many products and services, Ring was acquired by a tech behemoth. In 2018, Amazon purchased the company for $1.1 billion, which enabled it to enter the home security market. Later that year, Ring launched Neighbors, a mobile application where users share and discuss posts related to crime and safety in their neighborhood, including footage recorded from doorbell cameras. | | | | |
<
< | Subsub 1 | >
> | User Engagement | | | | |
<
< | Subsection B | >
> | The primary way a Ring doorbell owner interacts with the product is not revolutionary: Users receive notifications on their phone when someone rings the doorbell or if someone or something is detected by the camera. Users are able to interact through the mobile application and can respond to the person ringing and save the recorded footage. | | | | |
>
> | The secondary means by which Ring encourages engagement is through its social platform. In the Neighbors application, doorbell owners and non-owners who can simply download the app can report suspicious activity in a given geographic area. Users display anonymous identifiers (i.e., Neighbor43) and may upload videos from their doorbell cameras or submit text posts to highlight suspicious activity. Digests of happenings in a neighborhood are sent out frequently, as well as notifications of events which a user deems critical enough to warrant a notification for all users. | | | | |
<
< | Subsub 1 | >
> | Consequences and Implications | | | | |
>
> | However, by design, Ring is not simply a tool for the user to be in the know—instead, it commands attention and triggers the user’s emotions to generate more interaction with the application and demand for Ring’s other security products. As users are peppered with notifications about happenings in their neighborhood, a user becomes thrusted into a feedback loop in which other people’s fears and distrust are reflected to them on a legitimized platform which purports to make neighborhoods safer. | | | | |
<
< | Subsub 2 | >
> | Moreover, while proponents envision Ring as a modern neighborhood watch, it also amplifies the dangers of neighborhood watch groups in the first place. Users are quick to raise the alarm when a suspicious courier walks by their camera or when multiple people are gathered together. There is, then, a heightened potential for neighborhoods to take action against people deemed suspicious by an anonymous reporting online that reaches a considerably large amount of people. | | | | |
>
> | Finally, Ring’s doorbell recording itself also poses data privacy concerns. The software can recognize people who come into the camera’s view and footage is centrally stored in Amazon’s cloud servers. A user’s data is also critical for increased engagement with the services as users receive notifications and content from Ring’s advertising partners based on their location. | | | | |
>
> | No, Really, Be My Neighbor | | | | |
<
< | Section II | >
> | Relationships with Police Departments | | | | |
<
< | Subsection A | >
> | Data Sharing with the State | | | | |
<
< | Subsection B | >
> | Conclusion | | |
|
|
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JoseMartinezFirstEssay 1 - 09 Oct 2020 - Main.JoseMartinez
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|
>
> |
| META TOPICPARENT | name="FirstEssay" |
|---|
It is strongly recommended that you include your outline in the body of your essay by using the outline as section titles. The headings below are there to remind you how section and subsection titles are formatted.
Paper Title
-- By JoseMartinez - 09 Oct 2020
Section I
Subsection A
Subsub 1
Subsection B
Subsub 1
Subsub 2
Section II
Subsection A
Subsection B
You are entitled to restrict access to your paper if you want to. But we all derive immense benefit from reading one another's work, and I hope you won't feel the need unless the subject matter is personal and its disclosure would be harmful or undesirable.
To restrict access to your paper simply delete the "#" character on the next two lines:
Note: TWiki has strict formatting rules for preference declarations. Make sure you preserve the three spaces, asterisk, and extra space at the beginning of these lines. If you wish to give access to any other users simply add them to the comma separated ALLOWTOPICVIEW list. |
|
|
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