Are you required to comply when police request doorbell footage? 5 On Your Side investigates
As video doorbells and home security cameras grow in popularity, police departments are increasingly asking for homeowners’ videos.
You might wonder if they can get it without your permission. It's important to review what your rights are in this situation.
Whether you’re on the lookout for porch pirates, wild animals, or car thieves, a video doorbell or security camera can come in handy. Law enforcement agencies are taking notice.
5 On Your Side has shown you-porch pirates are real. Doorbell cameras can serve as a deterrent, but also as a crime-fighting tool.
“The Ring app has a neighborhood watch-style social network called 'Neighbors,'" said Dan Wroclawski, Consumer Reports. "Law enforcement uses that network in order to request videos from users.”
However, the program has come under fire by some social justice and digital rights groups who feel it unfairly targets communities of color.
If the police ask for your video, do you have to give it to them? Consumer Reports says, legally, no.
“If police ask for your footage, you can choose to share it with them or you can simply ignore the request," Wroclawski said.
If you don’t share the video, Ring says it won’t give law enforcement access to your cameras, your videos, or any of your personal information. And police never have access to a live feed of your Ring cameras. But police can still get the video without your consent.
“If your footage is stored in the cloud on manufacturers’ servers, police can get it in two ways,” Wroclawski said.
First, through a search warrant or a subpoena. Or they can cite a federal law that allows manufacturers to share footage in a potentially life-threatening emergency. If the footage is stored locally on your camera, police may have to come to you directly to request it or serve a warrant.
If you have a Ring camera, you can opt out of receiving requests for your footage from law enforcement.
In the Ring app’s control center settings, scroll down to public safety and toggle off Request for Assistance Email Notifications.
