Smart doorbell cameras can lead to racial profiling

The Ring doorbell camera is sold as a great way to monitor who’s at the door, whether you're home or not. But preying on consumers’ fears of having their package deliveries stolen, or worse, is having far-reaching impacts on communities and policing practices around the world.

Director Brett Gaylor meets community activists in Skid Row, Los Angeles, where law enforcement has partnered with Amazon’s Ring, with some unintended consequences. On a map, obtained from the police, the activists notice that ‘hot spots' where police predict crimes will occur is based on users’ ‘reports of suspicision’ are often not found in the heart of Skid Row, but on the outskirts, where gentrifying communities live closest totheir less fortunate, often non-white neighbours. “The map was really a gate,” says Pete White of the StopLAPD Spying Coalition, “(it) wasn’t (for) the protection of people inside Skid Row, it was making sure that the people inside Skid Row were unable to travel outside of its boundaries.”

By embracing these technologies, are the police protecting everyone, or just the wealthy?  

Watch the video above for the full story.

The Internet of Everything from CBC Docs POV is a fast, funny and enlightening look at what happens when we opt for the convenience of connected “smart” objects, without fully understanding the consequences for our health, our communities, or the planet.

Watch The Internet of Everything on CBC Docs POV.