Smile! You’re on Amazon’s Neighbors app
20 years ago, the visionary science fiction author and futurist David Brin speculated about a world in which every street was monitored by a camera:
Brin was interested in the sociology of it, what it would mean. In particular, if it couldn’t be prevented, how would we cope?
SmartPhones have put us ever close to that, and so has the
Ring Video Doorbell (at AmazonSmile*)
Amazon bought Ring last year:
CNBC article by Eugene Kim
While you certainly may have known about that, you might not know about the
While it says it is from Ring, you don’t need to own a Ring device to use it.
I downloaded it today…and I’m generally pretty comfortable with what many people consider loss of privacy…but this one did creep me out a bit. 🙂
I put in my name, physical address, and e-mail address, and I’m guessing they ran some sort of verification check. The e-mail address would certainly give Amazon a check on my physical address, since both are on my Amazon account.
Right away, I could see videos my neighbors had uploaded from Ring devices. Generally, they were quite clear: if I’d know people in them, I would have had no problem identifying them.
People are only supposed to post safety and crime videos…but that clearly wasn’t being well moderated in real time.
More than one video showed a package delivery person being…not gentle putting down a package. Is that a safety issue? No, unless you are having something toxic delivered. Is it a crime? I wouldn’t put it in that category.
Others had to do with “suspicious” people…walking around, maybe at an odd hour of the day or walking up on someone’s driveway.
Now, some of the videos definitely looked like crimes…they looked like theft (including “porch pirates”, taking delivered packages).
Note that at least most what I was seeing would be visible from the street. That’s important because there isn’t an “expectation of privacy”. If somebody lets their dog relieve itself on someone’s lawn, and there happens to be someone across the street, they could be seen.
Amazon does have guidelines…I just wouldn’t say they are being carefully followed and reviewed.
There were also more official crime reports.
We’ve used the NextDoor site quite a few times, which is similar, and it has value…it’s particularly good for things like lost pets.
We have also seen it used to report people who seemed to us to be fine…there were times when it appeared to be driven more by “otherness” than by actual behavior.
I think you’d find it interesting to download the app and take a look.
Brin was right that we have to think about this…and whether you are thinking about it now, it’s already happening.
What do you think? Have you used Neighbors? If so, was it valuable? Has it helped you? How do you feel about videos of you possibly posted and viewed thousands of times without you knowing it?
Bonus story: I know there are authors who read this blog. I have a writing prompt in my Measured Circle blog today:
Write in my world: the planet Aphotic
I actually debated putting it here, but in polls, ILMK readers have not been big fans of fiction here…certainly, my sense is that fiction not related to the Kindle, Amazon, or e-publishing probably would not be a top heartwarmer. 🙂
If you do like to write, even just for fun, you might enjoy writing about the planet Aphotic…
Join thousands of readers and try the free ILMK magazine at Flipboard!
All aboard The Measured Circle’s Geek Time Trip at The History Project!
Bufo’s Alexa Skills
* I am linking to the same thing at the regular Amazon site, and at AmazonSmile. When you shop at AmazonSmile, half a percent of your purchase price on eligible items goes to a non-profit you choose. It will feel just like shopping at Amazon: you’ll be using your same account. The one thing for you that is different is that you pick a non-profit the first time you go (which you can change whenever you want)…and the good feeling you’ll get. 
Shop ’til you help!
This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog.
I Love My Kindle 