Fulu Foundation offers $10,000 bounty to disconnect Ring doorbells from Amazon cloud

A $10,000 bounty to unplug Ring from Amazon

A consumer advocacy group is offering a $10,000 bounty to anyone who can successfully disconnect Ring doorbells from Amazon's cloud. The Fulu Foundation wants developers to create a solution that allows users to store their video footage locally on their own computers or servers.

The program is a direct response to privacy concerns sparked by Ring's recent features. It challenges the current model where users must pay a subscription to store recordings on Amazon servers.

Ring's limited local storage options

Currently, Ring's options for keeping data off Amazon's cloud are restrictive. The company offers a local storage feature called Ring Edge, but it is only available with the Ring Alarm Pro base station and still requires a subscription plan.

Users can also enable end-to-end encryption for their videos. This prevents Ring or third parties from viewing the footage, but the encrypted files are still stored on Amazon's servers.

• Ring Edge: Local storage, but requires Ring Alarm Pro and a subscription.
• End-to-End Encryption: Protects video content, but data remains on Amazon cloud.
• Standard Plan: Footage is stored on Amazon servers with a monthly fee.

Fulu's challenge to developers

The Fulu Foundation, co-founded by YouTuber Louis Rossmann, announced the bounty program. It follows backlash against Ring's "Search Party" feature, an AI-powered tool that uses doorbell networks to find lost pets.

Fulu co-founder Kevin O'Reilly argues that device owners shouldn't have to replace their hardware due to software concerns. "In an ideal world, device owners would be able to modify that software to instead push that footage to their own computer or server," O'Reilly wrote.

Legal hurdles and bounty details

O'Reilly warned that any solution will face significant legal barriers. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) makes it a copyright crime to distribute tools that circumvent software locks, even for this purpose.

To win the bounty, a developer's solution must meet specific criteria. It must work with Ring doorbells released in 2021 or later and must completely stop the device from sending data to Amazon servers.

The initial bounty is $10,000. Fulu has pledged to match public donations up to another $10,000, making the total potential prize $20,000.

The push for true local storage

Several other smart home companies already offer video doorbells with local storage, including Eufy, Reolink, and Aqara. Fulu's bounty, however, is focused on modifying existing Ring hardware that millions already own.

The challenge highlights a growing consumer demand for true data ownership. The success of the bounty, and the legality of any resulting tool, remains uncertain given the DMCA restrictions.