Amazon's Ring has ended its partnership with Flock Safety, a surveillance firm, following public backlash over privacy concerns, according to multiple reports. The decision cancels a deal announced in October that would have allowed agencies working with Flock to access video captured by Ring devices for investigations, if permitted by customers. The move came days after a Ring advertisement aired during the Super Bowl sparked widespread criticism.
The partnership between Ring and Flock Safety involved a network of cameras and license plate readers primarily used by police and law enforcement agencies in the United States, as reported by the BBC. The agreement would have provided law enforcement with access to Ring footage, raising concerns about data privacy and potential misuse. The BBC and other sources noted the deal's cancellation was a direct response to public scrutiny.
The backlash stemmed from concerns about the potential for surveillance and the sharing of customer data. While the specifics of the Super Bowl advertisement that triggered the criticism were not detailed in the provided sources, the timing of the cancellation suggests a direct correlation between the ad campaign and the public's reaction.
In other news, a US federal judge ordered that some Venezuelan men deported by the Trump administration to a prison in El Salvador must be allowed to return to the United States to fight their cases, according to The Guardian. Luis Muñoz Pinto, one of the deportees, expressed both hope and fear regarding the prospect of returning, stating, "I’m not over that nightmare yet."
Additionally, The Wall Street Journal reported that the US military used Anthropic's AI model Claude during an operation in Venezuela. A spokesperson for Anthropic declined to comment on the specific use of Claude but stated that any use of the tool was required to comply with its policies, as reported by The Guardian.
Finally, Al Jazeera reported that life is slowly returning to the streets of Dilling, Sudan, after the Sudanese army broke a two-year siege by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N). The siege had cut off vital supply lines and created a severe humanitarian crisis for the city's residents.
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