In 2013, when Jeff Bezos talked about drone delivery of packages to your home, you probably didn’t think about the possibility of buying a flying device that will follow you around your house, monitoring and recording your activities.
But that is what Amazon just announced. The Ring division presented the Ring Always Home Cam, a $249 small drone equipped with a high-resolution camera that can hum and fly inside your home.
“Our homes have become our offices, our classrooms, movie theaters and more,” David Limp, Amazon’s head of devices and services, said during the virtual event. “We believe that our homes are made better by technology—technology that you don’t have to learn and works well for everybody, whenever and wherever you are.”
Ring promises to respect the user and home privacy fully. “Privacy and security are foundational to Ring, and underpin every product, feature, and service we develop. We think about privacy holistically—from product features and design, to how a customer ultimately uses that product in their everyday life—and Always Home Cam is no exception.” says Ring founder Jamie Siminoff in a blog post. “When you go through the setup process and set your preferred flight paths, you are ensuring that the Always Home Cam will only fly where you want it to go.”
Not everyone is convinced. Renowned tech journalist and longtime tech product reviewer Walt Mossberg tweeted:
And Fight for the Future, a nonprofit organization fighting for transparency, privacy, and human rights, also warned not to buy the new device:
“People hacked Ring cameras and used them to spy on children in their bedrooms. Do not, under any circumstances, put an Amazon surveillance drone in your house.”
The Ring Always Home Cam is not available on Amazon yet, as it is waiting for certification from the FCC.
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