This is exactly what we said would happen. Police in Jackson, MS have launched a 45 day pilot program where they will conduct 24 hour real-time monitoring of private homeowners’ Amazon Ring doorbell surveillance cameras. Ring users can sign up for the program and livestream the feed from their camera directly to the cops’ “Real Time Crime Center,” without the knowledge or consent of their neighbors, delivery workers, children playing nearby, or anyone else who might be caught up in this warrantless surveillance dragnet.

Spokespeople for Amazon have consistently lied to the public and denied that this type of surveillance would be possible. But dozens of security experts and civil liberties have warned that these devices make communities less safe, not more safe.

Amazon already has partnerships with more than 1,550 police departments in the US, but this Orwellian experiment is the first of its kind in the country. If we don’t stop it now, programs like this will quickly spread everywhere, and we’ll be hurtling toward a future where police have real-time access to thousands and thousands of cameras, turning neighborhoods into prisons.

But right now this is just a trial program. And elected officials in Jackson have already shown a willingness to address surveillance concerns––they even recently banned facial recognition. If there’s major backlash to this program, we can stop it in its tracks before it spreads.

Sign the petition now to tell Jackson’s mayor and city council: “Real-time surveillance with no community oversight makes us less safe, not more safe. Immediately shut down the police department’s experimental program to conduct 24 hour live monitoring of Amazon Ring cameras.”