Ring Drops Police Surveillance Company Partnership After Super Bowl Ad BacklashRing, the Amazon-owned company that makes wildly popular smart doorbells, has scrapped a partnership with a police surveillance tech company, Flock Safety, after a separate feature prompted strong backlash.Ring advertised a feature called Search Party during last weekend’s Super Bowl with a spot centered around a lost dog, showing Ring cameras light up in sync around a neighborhood, scanning to help a child find the pup. Viewers criticized the ad for using cute animals to promote a surveillance society where no corner of public space is left unmonitored.Flock Safety does not appear to have anything to do with the pet-finder feature, as the partnership had never launched, the company said in a statement. The decision to cancel appears to be a preemptive move.“We believe this decision allows both companies to best serve their respective customers and communities,” Flock said in a statement.Indeed, even WeRateDogs, the feel-good social media brand that “rates” all dogs higher than 10/10, came out with criticism for Ring, citing the potential for federal immigration enforcement to abuse the network.See All UpdatesClose