You may have heard about the recent backlash to a new Ring feature called Search Party, which is now live and working with compatible outdoor cameras and video doorbells. The basic idea is that if someone’s dog goes missing, all the cameras in the neighborhood can be on the lookout for the lost pooch.

But is it a helpful neighborhood watch feature, or an unnecessary invasion of privacy? Critics are concerned that mass surveillance isn’t too many steps away (or is perhaps here already). Here’s what you need to know about how Search Party works, the Ring devices that support it, and how you can disable it if you want to.

What is Ring Search Party?

As you can see from the advert that aired during the recent Super Bowl, if a dog goes missing, cameras in the local area get enlisted to help find it. AI is used to try and spot the dog in question, using an image and details supplied by the dog’s owner, and if there’s a match, then the wandering pet can hopefully be reunited with its family.

It’s not completely unlike the way Apple AirTags work, with a vast network of other people’s iPhones called into action to help locate whatever lost item your AirTag is attached to. However, AirTags can’t record video, only track location—so it’s understandable that there are more privacy concerns over this.

Ring says more than a dog a day has been found since Search Party launched. It originally began rolling out last September, but its Super Bowl ad—and a heightened public awareness of surveillance tech—has attracted plenty of fresh criticism. The issue is not with missing dogs, but with how this setup could be misused or repurposed in the future.

The feature has been described as a “mass surveillance” system, in combination with the Familiar Faces capabilities also available on Ring cameras. Although, Familiar Faces is slightly different: It’s intended to enable your cameras to spot the difference between strangers and people you actually know, and that data is kept private to your account. (This is also something other cameras do, including Google’s Nest Cams.)

Ultimately it’s a question of trusting (or not trusting) Ring. Is this feature just going to be used to find lost dogs? Might law enforcement agencies compel Ring to share footage to find suspected criminals too? Could bad actors tap into the system without Ring’s knowledge or express permission? These are the key concerns people have.

How do I turn Ring Search Party off?

This is a feature that’s enabled by default, so if you’re not happy having your footage used in this way, you need to turn it off. It works with all of Ring’s outdoor cameras, including video doorbells: Any camera you’ve got installed outside, or set to outside mode in the Ring app, is part of the pooch-finding network.

However, you also need to have enabled cloud storage for your videos: These recorded clips, triggered by motion, are what Ring is analyzing. Your camera’s live feed isn’t suddenly being tapped into by Ring or anyone else. Plus, if a lost dog is located on one of your cameras, you have the choice whether or not to share any footage with the owner—this part isn’t done automatically.

Turning off Search Party is straightforward enough: From the Ring app on your phone, tap the menu button (top left), then choose Control Center. Select Search Party from the next menu, and you’ll see whatever options are available in your area—you can then disable the Search for Lost Pets setting.

Once that is done, your video clips won’t be used to locate missing pets, and you won’t get any notifications about it. However, it seems that you can still request help finding a lost dog—in fact, anyone can do this, whether or not they have outdoor Ring cameras of their own, via the Ring mobile app or the accompanying Neighbors app that Ring also makes.

No doubt the surveillance debates will continue, not just around Ring cameras but also around similar technology as we all make choices between privacy and convenience.

 

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