Doorbell firm aims to replace WhatsApp or Facebook groups with platform where people can post about safety or lost pets.
Amazon’s doorbell camera maker Ring is to launch its Neighbours community app in the UK in an attempt to supplant neighbourhood WhatsApp or Facebook groups.
The service is intended as a modern equivalent of a community message board, where neighbours can post about safety, community matters or lost pets.
“We used to have the village noticeboard, but as things have changed we no longer have that local connection,” said Dave Ward, the managing director of international for Ring. “Instead what you see in WhatsApp or other services is a broad-stroked flood of information, the bins being left out, that sort of thing.”
Some of the features of the Neighbours service from the US will not be at once available in the UK.
The Community Requests feature, which allows the police to issue calls for footage from Ring cameras in a local area in response to incidents, has drawn the most ire from privacy campaigners.
Content can be shared from Ring doorbells and other cameras.
The new service will also have a feature called “Search Party for Dogs”, which allows users of lost pets to post an image and report of a lost dog.
In an attempt to negate some privacy fears, Ring recently announced a new default encryption mechanism for camera footage called TAKE. Further processing or access, including by law enforcement, needs user consent to issue replacement 24-hour keys from the user’s Ring app.