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Ring aired a Super Bowl ad touting its Search Party feature that didn't quite get the intended buzz. Instead, the commercial scared the pants off of anyone concerned about a mass surveillance state.

The feature is advertised as a way to reunite missing dogs with their owners, a noble cause indeed, but Search Party does this by turning individual Ring devices into a surveillance network. Each camera uses AI to identify pets running across its field of vision and all feeds are pooled together to potentially identify lost animals. I've never seen a slope quite so slippery, as the technology could easily be rejiggered to track people.

It's also worth noting that this isn't a new feature. Search Party was first announced last year. In that time it has been used to find 99 lost dogs in 90 days of use, according to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy. Approximately ten million pets go missing in America each year. Many people aren't keen on helping to create a surveillance state for a tool with what looks to be around a 0.005 percent success rate. That percentage is sure to rise with mass adoption, but you get the jist.

With that said, many Ring users are looking for a way to disable the feature, as it's enabled by default. Engadget has got you covered.

How to Disable Search Party

Thankfully, this is fairly easy to do. Just open the Ring app and tap the menu in the top-left corner. Next, select Control Center. Then, tap Search Party and toggle the settings to Disable for both Search for Lost Pets and Natural Hazards. Repeat this process for each camera.

There has also been some confusion as to what Ring will share with law enforcement agencies. If you want to go a step further, delete all of your saved videos by tapping the History icon and then "Delete All."

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/heres-how-to-disable-rings-creepy-search-party-feature-185420455.html?src=rss

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The Champions League playoffs will be back next week around Europe

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Let's guess next year's Super Bowl participants based solely on the color scheme

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There was significant movement in the rankings after a wild weekend of college basketball

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SportsLine's model simulated the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-AM 2026 10,000 times and revealed its surprising PGA Tour picks

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Here's everything you need to know about the NFL for Feb. 9

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Has the time come for managers to roster Kyle Filipowski with confidence?

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The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's latest student loan report cites a record number of complaints from borrowers but leaves out certain information.

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The avalanche of Epstein files released by the Justice Department has buried high-ranking European government officials with ties to the convicted sex offender in shame.

• In the U.S., some powerful people have faced public scrutiny — but have so far avoided professional consequences for their dealings with the late financier.

The big picture: The fallout from the release of the Epstein files has become a stress test for accountability among Western elites and their governments — and has exposed a stark contrast between how the U.S. and its allies approach reputational blows.

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Case in point: Downing Street is racking up empty desks after Prime Minister Keir Starmer's director of communications and chief of staff departed amid a firestorm over Peter Mandelson, who was dismissed as U.K. ambassador to the U.S. due to his Epstein links.

• Earlier this month, London's Metropolitan Police announced an investigation into a former government minister over alleged misconduct tied to the Epstein files.
• British police are also assessing claims Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor — who has been stripped of his royal titles — passed trade visit reports to Epstein, multiple outlets reported.
• The reckoning has rippled through Norway as well: A former prime minister is under investigation, an ambassador resigned and the crown princess has apologized for her friendship with Epstein.

Friction point: The outcry in allied nations has derailed top government careers — and is threatening to tank Starmer, a man who never even met Epstein. But in the U.S., officials and some wealthy figures remain largely unscathed.

• Despite Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick's dealings with Epstein, the government is brushing off the controversy. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), one of the lawmakers leading the push for Epstein transparency, called on him to resign.
• A Commerce spokesperson told Axios Lutnick had "very limited interactions with" Epstein after they met in 2005 and that "[t]his is nothing more than a failing attempt by the legacy media to distract from the administration's accomplishments."

He's one of several prominent Trump-world figures — including Elon Musk, Steve Bannon and the president himself — to appear in the documents, though the powerful Epstein network sprawls far past the president's circle.

• Other tech moguls — including Sergey Brin and Bill Gates — also appear. Gates denied any wrongdoing in a recent interview and apologized.
• Last year, the House voted against censuring Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-V.I.) over her texts with Epstein. She remains a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and has denied wrongdoing.
• Goldman Sachs has supported its general counsel, Kathryn Ruemmler, who the files showed frequently corresponded with Epstein, The Wall Street Journal reports.
• Goldman Sachs and Plaskett's office did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.

State of play: Trump has shrugged off big names in Epstein's orbit and suggested it's time to move on.

• He's also expressed sympathy for former President Bill Clinton, who appeared frequently in the files, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The pair have agreed to testify about Epstein.
• "It's a shame to be honest. I always liked him," Trump said of the former president.

Worth noting: Some leaders in corporate America and academia haven't escaped repercussions.

• Brad Karp, chairman of elite law firm Paul Weiss, resigned after his emails with Epstein surfaced.
• Longevity expert and celebrity doctor Peter Attia apologized and stepped down from his post as chief science officer of David Protein after his crude humor appeared in the latest batch of files. His future at CBS News remains in limbo, The Wrap reported.
• Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers has also retreated from public roles.

What we're watching: U.S. lawmakers want more answers — and are set to view unredacted versions of the files Monday.

• But while the reckoning from the files is a five-alarm fire on Downing Street, their release has yet to trigger the same level of public panic on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Go deeper: Ghislaine Maxwell pleads Fifth Amendment at congressional deposition

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But there's a catch.

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The Cyber Security Agency (CSA) of Singapore on Monday revealed that the China-nexus cyber espionage group known as UNC3886 targeted its telecommunications sector. "UNC3886 had launched a deliberate, targeted, and well-planned campaign against Singapore's telecommunications sector," CSA said. "All four of Singapore's major telecommunications operators ('telcos') – M1, SIMBA Telecom, Singtel, and

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"This is very valuable to us, and we will pay," Savannah Guthrie said in a new video message, seeking to communicate with people who say they're holding her mother.