Ring's Ukraine office threw a party where white employees wore Native American headdresses and face paint
Photos posted to Facebook in 2017 showed dozens of Ring employees — apparently all white — wearing racially insensitive costumes and shirts that read "FUCK CRIME," according to reporting from Vice News.
Ring has also thrown private parties for police, including one featuring former professional basketball player Shaquille O'Neal, in an effort to cozy up to law enforcement.
A Ring spokesperson told Business Insider the event is "not representative" of the company and that Ring strives to be an inclusive community.
The report adds to concerns over Ring's role in encouraging racial profiling by both private citizens and law enforcement.
On at least one occasion, Ring, a home security company owned by Amazon, threw a party where employees wore racially insensitive costumes depicting indigenous Americans, according to a report from Vice News published on Wednesday.
In 2017, Ring's Ukraine-based team uploaded photos to Facebook that showed dozens of white employees wearing headdresses and face paint, as well as shirts that read "FUCK CRIME," though Vice said the photos were removed after it notified Ring about their existence.
Documents obtained by Vice found that Ring's team in Ukraine appears to be focused specifically on developing machine learning tools capable of recognizing faces and voices captured by Ring customers' cameras.
Ring also threw a private party for police officers — complete with free food, alcohol, and Ring cameras as well as a celebrity appearance from NBA superstar Shaquille O'Neal — at the 2018 International Association of Chiefs of Police conference in Orlando. It hosted a similar party again this year at the IACP conference in Chicago, according to Vice, as the company continues to cozy up to law enforcement.
In an emailed statement, a Ring spokesperson told Business Insider: "that event is not representative of who we are as a company. At Ring, we strive to be an inclusive community and we're taking action to ensure that all of Ring events reflect our values."
The revelations add to already-existing issues Ring faces when it comes to racial profiling and data privacy.
View the pictures and read the full Vice report here »
Read the original article on Business Insider
