Donald Trump might ‘weaponise’ a doorbell in main risk to liberty, former adviser warns
A former political adviser to the UK government has warned Donald Trump could weaponise new technologies to undermine America’s midterm elections later this year
A political strategist has warned Trump could weaponise doorbells later this year (Image: Getty)
An experienced political adviser and campaign strategist with previous experience working for the UK government has warned how Jeff Bezos’ Ring doorbell could be weaponised by Donald Trump ahead of the midterms in November.
Earlier this month, Amazon unveiled a new AI-powered feature for their popular Ring doorbell known as Search Party.
Whilst the company claim its main purpose is to find lost pets through the use of facial recognition, critics have argued that it could be used to find humans too, raising major questions about the threat to liberty in the United States, particularly as ICE clamps down ever harder.
What’s more, as Donald Trump’s popularity plummets, ICE expands its operations, and the controversial leader talks up trying to nationalise the elections, there is growing concern that the USA is an autocracy in the making.
This isn’t helped by the fact that Jeff Bezos, one of the richest men in the world, recently gutted the Washington Post’s staff; this being the same paper that uncovered the Watergate Scandal.
Speaking to Reach Plc about the matter, Pablo O’Hana said that whilst a doorbell in itself wouldn’t hack democracy or rig an election, that it was the impact of the surveillance which would have the greatest impact on voter actions.
When asked if Trump could use it to undermine the midterm elections, he warned: “Yes, and anything else he can get his hands on. The risk isn’t the doorbell itself ‘hacking democracy’, it’s the effect it has.
“If people are scared to report crime, testify in court or show up in public spaces because they think ICE is lurking around the corner, that is utterly corrosive to the democratic process long before anyone gets close to a ballot box.
“We’ve already seen prosecutors and communities in places like Chicago saying aggressive ICE operations are making people too afraid to come forward – victims, witnesses, everybody. That same fear is easily weaponised in an election year: you don’t have to change the count if you can change who feels safe enough to take part.”
There are also questions over whether the use of the technology could breach the US Constitution, specifically the fourth amendment.
According the National Constitution Center this protects the “right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated”.
It further states: “And no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized”.
On this, Pablo remarked: “I honestly wouldn’t rely on the constitution to protect anyone, except for guns of course – that Amendment is always protected.
“A Ring feature isn’t automatically unconstitutional, but it quickly becomes unconstitutional if it’s used to dodge warrants or build a surveillance state through pressure.”
As for Trump’s popularity, multiple polls show that it continues to be low, a theme driven by his policies on immigration, an area where he used to be popular but now isn’t.
The New York Times’ polling researcher Caroline Soler said: “President Trump continues to face low approval ratings, which for the first time have fallen below where they stood at the same point in his first term. Much of the erosion appears tied to immigration issues, which were once one of his most popular policy areas.”
