Amazon Ring Dumps Flock Safety Deal in Super Bowl Backlash Retreat

**February 12, 2026** – Ring and Flock Safety call off their planned partnership today, just days after the Super Bowl "Search Party" ad blew up into a privacy firestorm. The integration **never went live**. No Ring videos ever made it to Flock. That ad promised AI to scan neighborhoods of Ring cams for lost pets. Critics saw straight through it: **a Trojan horse for mass surveillance**. Flock swears no direct ICE line, but local cops handed them thousands of immigration leads anyway. Senator Markey hit Amazon February 11, demanding they scrap "Familiar Faces" face-scanning tech. *Crickets from the company.* SeaTac locked down Flock data to their PD only on February 10. Washington Senate rammed through SB 6002 ALPR rules February 4. And **2161 law enforcement outfits** are still posting on the Neighbors app. **The script plays out**: Cops get a friendly new door. Public grabs pitchforks. Retreat—but the wires stay hot. Seattle protest hits Amazon HQ Friday 1PM. --- ## Full Timeline & Breakdown It started back in **October 2025**. Flock pitched integrating Ring's Community Requests tool. Cops would post tips through Flock. Ring users could opt in to share clips. A revival of sorts after Ring killed the old RFA police request line in 2024. ### The Super Bowl Trigger **February 8, Super Bowl LX.** The "Search Party" ad drops. AI magic to find your lost dog by pinging every Ring cam in the hood. **It was on by default.** *Opt out: Ring app → Control Center → Search Party toggle.* Backlash hit like a truck: > "No one will be safer in Ring's surveillance nightmare." — **EFF** TikTok filled with "smash your Ring" videos. Reddit opt-out guides spread like wildfire. ### Markey's Demand **February 11**: Senator Ed Markey fires off a letter. **Amazon, kill "Familiar Faces" beta now.** Tag familiar faces in clips; unknowns stored up to six months. No word back. ### The Cancellation **Today, February 12**: Ring's blog calls it a "comprehensive review" needing "more time and resources." Mutual call with Flock. Flock: "Back to local community focus." **Bottom line: Nothing launched. Zero videos crossed over.** ### The Federal Reality Flock swears no direct ICE hookups. But reports from February 11 show **thousands of immigration searches** funneled through local PD Flock access. ### Resistance Building - **SeaTac City Council Feb 10**: Flock data city-police only. - **WA Senate Bill 6002 Feb 4**: No ICE grabbing ALPR plates, delete in 72 hours unless warrant. - **100+ cities suing Flock** over warrantless reads. **Neighbors app rolls on** with 2161 law enforcement accounts posting requests. Infrastructure intact. ### *The Pivot Playbook* 1. Launch under "pet safety" cover. 2. Ignore hallucination risks and mis-ID flags. 3. Backlash boils over. 4. **Cut the visible tie. Keep FRT, app network, cop bridge humming underneath.** Opt-out army growing hourly. ### Tomorrow: Seattle Action **"Dump ICE, Dump Flock" protest** – Friday the 13th, 1PM outside Amazon HQ. --- **What are you doing about your Ring? Opting out? Smashing?** Discussion in comments.