Amazon Ring tells police to advertise services for free Ring cameras

A secret agreement between Amazon's Ring smart home security company and a Florida police department requires officers to advertise Ring products in return for free Ring doorbell cameras, which can be handed out to local residents for free.

It was previously reported that some police departments would only hand out free Ring cameras to residents if they allowed police to informally request surveillance footage, which usually requires a formal warrant.

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Ring, the smart home security company that Amazon acquired last year, is requiring US police departments across the country to advertise the Ring platform in return for free Ring smart home security cameras, according to a report in Motherboard on Thursday.

Motherboard said it obtained a signed memorandum of understanding as well as emails between Ring and the Lakeland, Florida police department revealing the terms of these secret agreements.

Ring gave the Lakeland police department 15 of its home security cameras for free (it's not clear which Ring cameras, but Amazon's website lists the cost of Ring cameras between $99 and $249), as well as access to a special online portal Ring created for law enforcement, according to the documents.

The portal is essentially a map of all the Ring cameras in a neighborhood. Specific home addresses are obscured, but the site allows police to reach out to homeowners with Rings to request access to their footage, an arrangement that Motherboard says allows police to sidestep the usual warrants required for obtaining security footage.

In exchange for these freebies and privileges, the Lakeland Police Department is contractually obligated to “encourage” residents to download the Ring app. For every download, the police department gets a $10 credit that can be used towards the purchase of more Ring cameras.

CNET's Alfred Ng has previously reported that police departments around the US had a partnerships with Ring hat involved police offering free Ring cameras to local residents. But the terms of the contracts, and the fact that police are explicitly required to act as advertisers for Ring under the arrangements, weren't known.

Many police departments appear to have have partnerships with Ring, potentially with similar contractual terms.

The Tulsa, Oklahoma police department tweeted about its partnership with Ring on Monday, providing a special code and a link for people to download the app.

Tweet Embed: //twitter.com/mims/statuses/1153471805811826689？ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw We're Partnering with Ring and Their Neighbors AppTo download the app, text tulsaok to 555888Orhttps://t.co/Fv2UAcYLIVOrApple Devices https://t.co/wbu9SWVL1eAndroid Devices https://t.co/mahiOcNSqS(Sorry no Blackberry support, now or ever) pic.twitter.com/qC8eNFzTbF

The concern with the partnership detailed in the previous CNET report was that some police departments were requiring recipients of free Ring cameras to give police access to recorded footage, giving police departments unprecedented surveillance capabilities without going through typical law enforcement due process to obtain warrants for surveillance footage, and posing serious concerns over privacy.

Now, the implication that Ring is incentivizing police departments to advertise its services raise new concerns.

Representatives from Ring and the Lakeland Police Department did not immediately return requests for comment.