Ring CEO's Leaked Email Confirms It: Search Party Was Always About Surveillance

TL;DR:

404 Media obtained an email from Ring CEO Jamie Siminoff sent to all employees in early October 2025, days after Search Party launched
The key quote: "I believe that the foundation we created with Search Party, first for finding dogs, will end up becoming one of the most important pieces of tech and innovation to truly unlock the impact of our mission"
He said the quiet part out loud: "You can now see a future where we are able to zero out crime in neighborhoods...for the first time ever we have the chance to fully complete what we started"
He also used the Charlie Kirk murder to justify expanding Ring's "Community Requests" feature for police
Ring confirmed the email is real. But insists Search Party "does not process human biometrics or track people." Yet.

What Siminoff Told His Staff

404 Media got the email. Sent to all Ring employees in early October 2025, right after Search Party launched. Here's what Ring's founder and CEO told his people ^[1]:

"I believe that the foundation we created with Search Party, first for finding dogs, will end up becoming one of the most important pieces of tech and innovation to truly unlock the impact of our mission."

The mission isn't finding Fluffy. It never was.

"You can now see a future where we are able to zero out crime in neighborhoods...for the first time ever we have the chance to fully complete what we started."

"Zero out crime." "Complete what we started." Those aren't phrases you use for a lost pet finder. That's surveillance infrastructure language. That's the pitch you give investors and law enforcement partners, not dog lovers.

The Verge asked Ring about the email. Ring confirmed it was real ^[2].

He Used a Murder to Sell Surveillance

It gets worse.

Siminoff sent another email to staff using the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk to justify expanding Ring's surveillance features. He shared an Instagram Reel about the shooting and told employees how important Ring's "Community Requests" feature would be ^[3].

From that email:

"It just shows how important the community request tool will be as we fully roll it out. It is so important to create the conduit for public service agencies to efficiently work with our neighbors. Time and information matters in these situations and I am proud that we are working to build the systems to help make our neighborhoods safer."

Community Requests lets certain public safety agencies request footage from users through the Ring Neighbors app. Siminoff isn't just imagining this feature as useful. He's already positioning high-profile crimes as the justification for building the surveillance pipeline.

Murder happens. Use it to sell more surveillance. That's the playbook in writing.

The Super Bowl Lie

Remember the Super Bowl ad? Lost puppy. Heartwarming music. Neighbors helping neighbors find little Bella. 120 million viewers thinking, "Aw, that's cute."

The ad ran on February 9, 2026. Four months after Siminoff told his employees Search Party was the foundation for "zeroing out crime in neighborhoods."

The public got puppies. The staff got the real strategy.

Within days of the ad airing, Ring cancelled its partnership with Flock Safety (the license plate reader company that shares data with ICE) after massive public backlash ^[4]. But that cancellation didn't touch Search Party. The AI surveillance network running on 10 million doorbell cameras is still on by default.

Ring's Non-Denial Denial

After the email leaked, Ring told The Verge that Search Party "does not process human biometrics or track people" ^[2].

Notice what they didn't say: that it never will. That they won't expand it. That Siminoff's "zero out crime" vision isn't the roadmap.

The company emphasized Search Party provides "context about neighborhood events like lost pets or fires, allowing homeowners to decide whether to help their community."

That's PR speak for: we haven't flipped the switch to people-tracking yet. But the CEO already told staff where this is going.

The Infrastructure Is Already Built

Here's what's already running on Ring cameras:

Search Party: AI that scans footage for pattern matches (breed, size, fur, markings). Enabled by default ^[5]
Familiar Faces: Facial recognition that builds a biometric database of everyone who passes your doorbell ^[6]
Amazon Sidewalk: Bluetooth mesh network connecting devices across neighborhoods ^[7]
Axon partnership: Integration with police body camera and evidence platforms ^[8]

Swap "dog" for "person" in the AI. The infrastructure is already in place. Siminoff's email tells you the plan.

What You Can Do

Disable Search Party

Ring app → Menu (≡) → Control Center → Search Party → Disable "Search for Lost Pets" for each camera. Per-camera toggle. Annoying by design.

Disable Familiar Faces

Ring app → Devices → Select doorbell → Device Settings → Smart Alerts → Familiar Faces → Toggle off. Stops the facial recognition database.

Disable Amazon Sidewalk

Ring app → Control Center → Sidewalk → Toggle off. Kills the mesh network. Also disables some Ring features, which is the point.

Consider Alternatives

Local-only cameras (Eufy, Reolink) process on-device. No cloud. No Amazon. No "zeroing out crime."

What This Means

Ring's CEO wrote it down. In an email to all employees. Search Party isn't a lost dog feature. It's the foundation for neighborhood-wide AI surveillance. Finding dogs was the soft launch. "Zeroing out crime" is the mission.

He used a murder to justify it. He told staff it would "complete what we started." Ring confirmed the email is real.

The next time someone says you're being paranoid about Ring cameras, show them the CEO's own words.