The Search Party ad drew significant negative reactions against Ring and its partnership with Flock. Critics warned that the new feature, rather than being limited to finding lost pets, would instead enable law enforcement agencies to implement a virtual surveillance state through Ring customers’ privately owned devices.

“A reminder before you sign up for @ring‘s state-sponsored surveillance marketed under the guise of ‘looking for a lost dog’. Please, please, please don’t sign up for that service,” Indiana Fever executive Jackie Maynard wrote in a typical reaction to the commercial.

Some suggested the technology could contribute to racial profiling.

“White people will use this for racist purposes,” womanist writer Dr. Allison Wiltz posted.

Ring and Flock face questions about privacy and law enforcement access to technology

The negative publicity from the Super Bowl ad brought renewed scrutiny to Ring and Flock, which had announced their collaboration in October, over each company’s work with law enforcement. Although Flock doesn’t work directly with federal law enforcement agencies such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the company has worked with U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Furthermore, Flock’s technology is indirectly used by these agencies through requests made by local law enforcement agencies. Ring also has a history of providing footage to law enforcement agencies, sometimes in exchange for promotion of Ring products by these agencies. These collaborations have raised serious concerns from privacy advocates, law enforcement watchdog groups, and Ring customers. In the wake of the Super Bowl ad, several Ring subscribers canceled their service, with some customers disconnecting or even destroying their Ring devices.