Washington (February 13, 2026) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), member of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, released the following statement after Amazon’s Ring announced that it will ends its partnership with Flock Safety. Senator Markey has conducted extensive oversight on Amazon’s Ring doorbells over the past few years. Most recently he wrote multiple letters urging Ring to halt integration of facial recognition features in its doorbells.

“Amazon's decision to abandon its partnership with Flock is an important step in guarding against the ever-expanding network of surveillance technologies in this country. After my years of oversight into Amazon’s privacy-invasive Ring doorbells and the recent public backlash against its dystopian Super Bowl commercial, Amazon is finally getting the message: Enough is enough with the Orwellian surveillance state.

“This decision is a good first step, but it can’t be the end. Amazon must go further and end facial recognition in its Ring doorbells — full stop. I will keep fighting until they do.”

Senator Markey has consistently questioned Amazon’s Ring doorbell data privacy practices and relationship with law enforcement.

• This week, Senator Markey wrote to Andrew Jassy, CEO of Amazon, urging Amazon to discontinue its facial recognition technology (FRT), “Familiar Faces,” embedded in its Ring doorbells. Senator Markey wrote this letter following public backlash to Amazon’s Super Bowl commercial, which sought to promote the image recognition technology embedded in its Ring doorbells.
• In December, Senator Markey released the latest findings in response to his probe into Ring.
• In October, Senator Markey wrote to Amazon requesting that it abandon its plans to integrate FRT into Ring doorbells and asked key questions about Amazon’s privacy practices. In response to Senator Markey’s October letter, Amazon revealed that Ring's privacy protections only apply to device owners and not members of the public.
• In 2022, Senator Markey sent a follow up letter to Amazon, highlighting the company's ongoing privacy violations and unchecked data sharing with police departments.
• In 2019, Senator Markey sent two letters to Amazon, raising concerns about Ring’s partnership with over 400 police departments and Amazon’s alarming disregard for basic privacy protections.

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