Ring, Massachusetts

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, I hereby request the following records:

Law enforcement agencies around the country have “partnerships” with Ring, Amazon’s home security company. These partnerships involve an exchange: Law enforcement gets access to Ring’s “Law Enforcement Neighborhoods Portal.” The Law Enforcement Neighborhood Portal is a way that police can request Ring camera footage from people that use Neighbors, Ring has a "neighborhood watch" app. (https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/qvg48d/everything-you-need-to-know-about-ring-amazons-surveillance-camera-company)

Therefore, I hereby request the following records :

1) All instructional materials, presentations and presentation materials (including recorded video and audio, PowerPoint files, prepared remarks, and slides formats), and other guidance on the use of Ring devices and/or the Neighbors app. This includes A) any notes taken during meetings that discussed the use of Ring devices and/or the Neighbors app, B) any explanations (whether internally or externally generated) of how Ring devices and/or the Neighbors app work, and C) any other document that has been used to help explain the use of Ring devices and/or the Neighbors app to any party, including internal documentation, public relations materials, and executive summaries.

2) A copy of any privacy impact assessments, use policies, standard operating procedures, data retention policies, legal opinions, warranties, non-disclosure agreements, contracts, liability waivers, insurance agreements, Requests for Proposals, Responses to Requests for Proposal, Memorandums of Understanding, Letters of Interest, usage policies, or informal agreements between the police department and Ring.

3) A copy of any funding opportunity announcements, grant applications and grantor status/progress reports, reports to legislative bodies, annual reports that mention Ring or the Neighbors app, as well as audit records, including but not limited to security audits of the software, misuse reports, and reports to oversight bodies.

4) Any digital communications including but not limited to emails and text messages) as well as documents, (including but not limited to PDF, word processing, excel, and slide documents) that mention Ring or the Neighbors app.

5) Any digital communications (including but not limited to emails and text messages) with Ring representatives.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes. It will be used in the course of reporting for Motherboard, VICE’s science and technology website (www.motherboard.vice.com).

I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as we believe this request is in the public interest, as suggested but not stipulated by the recommendations of the Massachusetts Supervisor of Public Records. The requested documents will be made available to the general public free of charge as part of the public information service at MuckRock.com, processed by a representative of the news media/press and is made in the process of news gathering and not for commercial usage.

I expect the request to be filled in an accessible format, including for screen readers, which provide text-to-speech for persons unable to read print. Files that are not accessible to screen readers include, for example, .pdf image files as well as physical documents.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Caroline Haskins