# Ring security cameras

11 Hacker News commenters recommended Ring security cameras and 97 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 7 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Home cameras that people recommend for recording footage they can use as proof. Critics object that Amazon shares footage and data with police and Flock.

## Why people recommend it

- Optional end-to-end encryption and storage-only access (2 comments): "as long as the data is encrypted, amazon doesn't access it beyond storage and deliver to the customer" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46224088)) "the Ring app offers an option to enable end-to-end encryption between the camera and your phone" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47024273))

## What people warn about

- Police access and Flock integration (5 comments): "Ring has experienced backlash before when they allowed police departments to browse the imagery without any kind of oversight or warrant." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46979513)) "It's the same kind of shell game Ring has been running by putting surveillance cameras on everyone's house and then selling access to law enforcement." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45998303)) "Ring cameras don't record and index every single license plate that it sees and hand that data over directly to law enforcement." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49626218))
- Unconsensual facial recognition and AI scanning (3 comments): "That one image of all the camera's apparently remotely controlled to scan the entire neighbourhood is something it's difficult to unsee." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47001781)) "uses AI face/pattern recognition under the guise 'search for missing dogs' to scan all its cameras videos" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47025462)) "The issue with Ring cameras is the unconsensual facial recognition while Amazon owns all of the data" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48376013))
- Amazon controls data with little user control (2 comments): "the amount of control over the data the customer has is very little but most are simply unaware of this" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50327980)) "The issue with Ring cameras is the unconsensual facial recognition while Amazon owns all of the data" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48376013))
- Neighborhood-wide surveillance from every doorstep (3 comments): "Ring cameras on everyone's front door and automated license plate readers (ALPR) on police vehicles and Flock cameras throughout cities are bigger concerns in America." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46098145)) "It's the same kind of shell game Ring has been running by putting surveillance cameras on everyone's house and then selling access to law enforcement." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45998303)) "The future is Flock, Palantir, and Ring or their descendants tracking your every move and generating your social credit score." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47979203))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Ubiquiti UniFi cameras](https://hackerapproved.com/p/ubiquiti-unifi-cameras.md): 8 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Ring+security+camera&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Official site](https://ring.com/)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Ring security cameras", https://hackerapproved.com/p/ring-cameras/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).