Amazon’s smart doorbell brand Ring has ended its planned partnership with police surveillance technology firm Flock Safety, following criticism sparked by a Super Bowl commercial.

The backlash came after a 30-second ad during the Super Bowl showed a lost dog being located through a network of cameras, raising concerns among viewers about the risks of an overly monitored society. However, the feature highlighted in the ad, called “Search Party,” was not connected to Flock, and Ring did not cite the advertisement as the reason for ending the collaboration.

Ring said the companies jointly decided to cancel the integration after a review found that the project would need far more time and resources than initially expected. The company added that the integration was never launched and that no customer video footage was ever shared with Flock.

Flock also confirmed that it never received any Ring customer data and described the decision as mutual, saying it would allow both firms to better focus on serving their own users. The company said it remains committed to helping law enforcement with tools that comply with local laws and policies.

Flock operates one of the largest automated license-plate reader networks in the United States, with cameras installed in thousands of communities capturing billions of images monthly. The firm has faced criticism amid tougher immigration enforcement policies, though it says it does not directly partner with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and previously paused pilot programmes with border and homeland security units.

Privacy concerns around Ring’s devices have resurfaced due to the ad, which used artificial intelligence to track the dog across a neighbourhood. Critics on social media warned the same technology could be used to monitor people.

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The Electronic Frontier Foundation said Americans should be concerned about possible privacy erosion, noting Ring already uses facial recognition through its “Familiar Faces” feature.

Meanwhile, Democratic Senator Edward Markey urged Amazon CEO Andrew Jassy to discontinue that technology, saying the reaction to the commercial shows strong public opposition to constant monitoring and invasive image recognition tools.