How to check if police are watching your neighborhood with Ring

How to check if police are watching your neighborhood with Ring

A privately owned and operated surveillance network has sprung up around the country, and police are getting in on the action.

Amazon’s Ring has partnered with law enforcement agencies to distribute, subsidize, and manage its Neighbors Portal program. The service allows police to request surveillance footage captured by individuals’ home Ring cameras, and for the entirety of the program’s history its scope and reach have been mostly a mystery. Until now.

Following great reporting by both Motherboard and Gizmodo, Amazon on Wednesday decided to finally come clean about the scale of its Neighbors Portal program. Read more…

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Google Maps finally lets you plan ‘mixed modes’ travel

Google Maps finally lets you plan ‘mixed modes’ travel

Sometimes getting home is a journey.

If it takes a few transit methods to get from a party to your front door, Google Maps didn’t used to be much help. But, as announced Tuesday, the navigation app can now give transit directions that include different modes.

“Mixed modes” will soon show up on the transit tab and will include ride-sharing and cycling options within the public transit directions. Instead of you having to manually piece together a trip, the app puts together different options for you.

You can get detailed information about ride-sharing, like the cost of either an Uber or Lyft and the different types of rides, like a carpool or SUV and how long it’ll take to get to you. The app will give info about the train or bus you’re catching and how much traffic to expect on the way. But you still have to book an Uber or Lyft in its respective app. Read more…

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