Google might be sharing Nest security camera footage under certain circumstances with the law enforcement agencies in the US. Google’s decision on this matter came after few weeks when Amazon had roll out headlines for giving out video footage from its Ring security camera to law enforcement that too even without a warrant. Google has mentioned that it only shares data with law enforcement, when there’s a case of emergency, although the precise definition of an “emergency” depends on police.

HIGHLIGHTS
Google may share camera footage with the law enforcement agencies in the US
Arlo, Eufy, Wyze, and Apple would not share any data without a proper warrant
Amazon has confirmed that it has allowed 11 requests this year

According to a report, Amazon and Google are the only companies who all have been following this emergency practice. Arlo, Eufy, Wyze, and Apple all of them have confirmed to the publication that they would not share any sort of data unless there would be a proper warrant or court order.

The definition of an “emergency” that warrant consists of feels like fuzzy at times. Google and Amazon had mentioned that in most cases law enforcement agencies had to follow proper procedures and turn out warrants, subpoenas, or different court orders. However, in the case of emergencies, Ring had asked law enforcement to fill out a two-page form, stating that it only meant when “there is an imminent danger of death or serious physical injury to somebody who would require a disclosure of information without any delay.” Such situations are always reviewed by a dedicated team who would later decides whether the request would be honored or denied. Well, the process does not appear to be very transparent.

It has been noticed that Google has been following similar practices. However, the company even leaves the door open for sharing information with law enforcement in case of emergency situation no further information about the process has been provided yet. Google has cited the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, which states that providers like Google might share data with law force without subpoena.

The other companies have mentioned that Arlo, Eufy, Wyze, and Apple do not legally required sharing of data. In fact, Apple and Eufy have been using end-to-end encryption and were not being able to share footages at all as they do not have any access to it.

Amazon has disclosed that till now it has allowed 11 requests this year, and has informed the affected owners after emergency was over. Well, there were controversies in 2019 that some employees were found to unrestricted the access to security cameras. If anyone wants to look into the security camera market it might be best to stick with some of the best security cams from Arlo, Eufy, Wyze, and Apple. Quality-of-life options like Nest Aware would not be that worthy like this possible intrusion of privacy.

Also Read: An Engagement of Google India with Policymaker on Data Protection Legalisation is Visible