[HN Gopher] Super Bowl Ad for Ring Cameras Touted AI Surveillanc...
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Super Bowl Ad for Ring Cameras Touted AI Surveillance Network
Author : cdrnsf
Score : 95 points
Date : 2026-02-09 20:41 UTC (2 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (truthout.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (truthout.org)
| vondur wrote:
| Most people don't care if they feel it helps solve crimes. I
| doubt it does 90% of the time though.
| SoftTalker wrote:
| That's the thing, it legitimately does solve some crimes. And
| both Flock and the police who use it will quickly trot out some
| high profile examples. It is one of those classic "if it saves
| one child it's worth any price" arguments.
|
| Are you OK with being tracked everywhere you go in public so
| that some bad guys don't get away with their bad activities?
| Many people are.
| superkuh wrote:
| Flock cameras are probably the cause of more crime than they
| solve with all the abuse by employees, federal agencies, and
| the general insecurity.
| Sebguer wrote:
| It's the wage theft versus retail theft problem, no matter
| which one has higher 'real' costs, society has decided that
| one is the 'real' problem that we should prioritize.
| toephu2 wrote:
| Doubt it. Any sources for that?
|
| I am in favor of the flock cameras. Most people tend to
| behave if they know they are being watched. They have
| helped reduce crime in the cities they've been deployed in.
| toephu2 wrote:
| > Are you OK with being tracked everywhere you go in public
| so that some bad guys don't get away with their bad
| activities? Many people are.
|
| If it helps catch 1/10 criminals? or even 1 more out of 100
| criminals than would be otherwise caught?
|
| I am. I have nothing to hide. Also, in public, anyone can
| record you on video without your permission anyway.
| text0404 wrote:
| > I have nothing to hide
|
| What's your full name and current address? Where do you
| work? What locations do you frequent in your day-to-day
| life? Who do you live with and spend the most time with?
| Can you please list their full names and contact
| information? Would you mind turning on location tracking on
| your phone? Once you've done this, let me know and I'll
| email you so you can share it with me.
| ChrisArchitect wrote:
| The ad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OheUzrXsKrY
| RegnisGnaw wrote:
| The answer is that most people don't care if it benefits them. My
| Tesla has 6 cameras recording full time when driving and parked,
| but it benefits me so I enable it. It saved me $1000+ (my
| deductible and possible rise in insurance rates) when someone hit
| my car while parked at Costco (they drove off but Sentry Mode
| caught them).
| apt-apt-apt-apt wrote:
| Did that result in a hit-and-run charge for them?
| mv4 wrote:
| fyi Tesla employees were caught accessing private videos.
|
| https://www.reuters.com/technology/tesla-workers-shared-sens...
| Bratmon wrote:
| Fun fact: Lockheed Martin advertises the F-35 during football
| games, because even though most of the audience isn't in the
| market for massive government contracts, the people who are are
| watching.
|
| I suspect the Ring mass surveillance ads are the same thing.
| chasd00 wrote:
| The Super Bowl fly over was kind of random. My son said it was
| f18s, f35s, and f15s. I was able to make out the two b1bs. It
| was like the air force forgot about the flyover and just
| scrambled whatever was on the closest tarmac.
| gerdesj wrote:
| Given your description, its good to see the USAAF are clearly
| on the ball when it comes to security. If, say, all your B1s
| overflew the nutjob bowl then certain planners across the
| world might decide to act in a certain way. A random
| assortment leaves everyone guessing.
| esseph wrote:
| They had several days in advance of training together. It was
| all planned in advanced.
|
| https://www.af.mil/News/Article-
| Display/Article/4384084/air-...
| asdff wrote:
| These sorts of advertisements make no sense for me. Who is the
| buyer? Some senator on some appropriations committee? Maybe
| some nato equivalent? And they need a 10 second flyover during
| a superbowl to be reminded of the existence of the f-35
| program?
| bigyabai wrote:
| Again, 99.999% of the viewers aren't really in the position
| to finance a $120 million fighter jet. However, the ~0.001%
| that _are_ in that position will probably be watching, and
| feel FOMO for not having the iPhone of strike fighters.
|
| Even if it only moves the needle on 2-3 sales every decade,
| the ROI is probably great.
| wyldfire wrote:
| > Who is the buyer?
|
| Who do you know who is currently sitting in a seat of massive
| power in the US Government, watches TV and says things like,
| "I need to have that! Why do we not have that already? It
| will project strength, and all the best governments project
| strength at every opportunity!"
| lukev wrote:
| It's not just for purchasers... it's to build
| consensus/approval around the concept of the US military-
| industrial complex.
| orthecreedence wrote:
| For a while, someone in our neighborhood was going around and
| stabbing people's packages at our mailbox area on our street.
| Some of the neighbors wanted us to put a surveillance cam on our
| property because our place is right in front of the mailboxes. We
| told them all to fuck off, but promised we'd be on the lookout.
|
| Turns out this deviant package stabber, surely a scruffy
| disgruntled man in his 40s who was likely on six types of meth,
| cloaked and operating in the shroud of darkness, was actually a
| mischievous raven. I'm glad we didn't expand the surveillance
| hell hole that has the US has absentmindedly embraced just to
| find the infamous package stabber was a raven. The neighbors,
| many of whom were screaming for blood, were incredibly let down
| when we shared what had actually happened.
|
| Not super relevant, but funny. Also, fuck Ring.
| yunnpp wrote:
| That sounds like peak Nextdoor Karen paranoia, thanks for
| sharing. Honestly, some people are just too dumb.
| dfxm12 wrote:
| I don't know if it is a matter of being dumb. I think a
| bigger part of it is that people are conditioned by a
| bombardment of bad-faith ads like this, as well as news media
| convincing you to be wary of your neighbors & trade freedom
| for giving power to LEO.
| ThrowawayTestr wrote:
| Unironically the most terrifying thing I've ever seen on TV. The
| use of dogs to convince people this is a good idea is so blatant.
| dabinat wrote:
| Ring's marketing is almost comically wholesome, but as soon as
| ICE learns that such a thing is possible they will for sure want
| to use it.
|
| This interview with Forbes from a few months ago provides some
| extra details:
| https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidphelan/2025/12/05/how-sear...
|
| 1. Apparently what happens is that the AI scans the videos of
| surrounding cameras and pings the owner to ask if they can share
| the footage. So no video is shared unless the owner chooses.
|
| 2. Ring is indeed working on being able to detect people.
| youarentrightjr wrote:
| > So no video is shared unless the owner chooses.
|
| That's all fine and good until we hear "oops, turns out all the
| customer video feeds were streaming to our cop accessible
| servers 24/7!".
|
| I don't believe Ring's claims (or flock etc etc) for one
| second.
| beart wrote:
| More likely - a quiet update changing opt-in to opt-out. They
| can repeat this update as many times as they want and each
| time, a few more people will miss the email. They can also
| hold your data hostage, i.e. "All data now and historical
| will be included in our partner sharing unless you delete it
| all."
| randycupertino wrote:
| It's more that police will use it for their own personal
| inquiries- to track their girlfriends, potential girlfriends
| etc. This happens enough already with license plate readers:
|
| - Sedgwick, Kansas (2024): Former Police Chief Lee Nygaard
| resigned after it was discovered he used Flock cameras to
| track his ex-girlfriend and her new partner 228 times over
| four months, according to The Wichita Eagle and KAKE.
|
| - Menasha, Wisconsin (Jan 2026): Officer Cristian Morales was
| charged with misconduct in office for allegedly using the
| Flock system to track his ex-girlfriend, WLUK-TV reported.
| Morales admitted to using the system due to "desperation" and
| "bad judgment".
|
| - Orange City, Florida (2025): Officer Jarmarus Brown was
| charged with stalking after reportedly running his
| girlfriend's license plate 69 times, her mother's 24 times,
| and her brother's 15 times over seven months, the Miami
| Herald reported.
|
| - San Diego, California (2021): Sergeant Mariusz Czas was
| arrested for stalking his ex-girlfriend using police
| resources
|
| https://fox11online.com/news/crime/menasha-police-officer-
| ac...
|
| https://local12.com/news/nation-world/police-chief-gets-
| caug...
| citruscomputing wrote:
| It's already happening. Someone local to me seems to be spray-
| painting over ring cameras and leaving flyers about the ring-
| flock-ice connection. I can't say I agree with the methods, but
| it is sending a message.
| thinkingtoilet wrote:
| At this point, I don't mind the methods. Shit is far gone if
| you're actively enabling the surveillance state, people have
| a right to fight back. I'm sure this won't go over well here.
| WarmWash wrote:
| Police still need a warrant for ring camera footage. Its just
| the overwhelmingly people will hand over the footage if
| police ask.
|
| "A suspect criminal walkes past your house the other day,
| mind sharing your doorbell cam footage with us?"
|
| "Sure officer, no problem!"
| iterateoften wrote:
| I don't think they need a warrant if they buy it directly
| from the company though. A little loophole.
| ImPostingOnHN wrote:
| It's more like,
|
| _" computer, search the entire flock database, which in
| partnership with ring also includes everybody's doorbell
| and security cameras[0], for this person and plot a map of
| their whereabouts over time[1]"_
|
| _0:https://www.flocksafety.com/blog/flock-safety-and-ring-
| partn..._
|
| _1:https://www.flocksafety.com/blog/flock-nova-smarter-
| investig..._
| maxerickson wrote:
| They do not need a warrant if the owner of the camera
| voluntarily shares the evidence.
| charcircuit wrote:
| Having safe neighborhoods is such an important factor to people's
| quality of life. If Ri by cameras can help achieve that it will
| be a benefit for society.
| brendoelfrendo wrote:
| I feel less safe knowing that anyone's doorbell could be
| tracking me and sending my movements to a third party to do
| whatever they want with that information. A camera that lets
| someone see their front doorstep and can record someone
| stealing a package is one thing; when that camera is now part
| of a network that is part of a larger, society-wide
| surveillance apparatus, I am concerned.
| dawnerd wrote:
| Safe neighborhoods existed before ring and connected doorbells.
| They only serve to track and monitor your neighbors and feed
| into some ai training set, especially if you're labeling who
| each person is.
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