Everything related to consumer IoT is more expensive and/or difficult to implement as a local-only service.
But that doesn’t make any sense. Why would cloud access make anything cheaper?
Hmmmmm
I got a Eufy doorbell cam years ago because you can do local storage, but I think in 2022 or 23 they were called out for not being fully encrypted, iirc it was the thumbnails for push notifications that weren’t being properly encrypted.
And that somehow also turned into a realization that Eufy was using those thumbnails to build a facial database because each face had a unique ID in the metadata.
I should really switch away but haven’t had the money, hopefully soon.
I should really switch away but haven’t had the money
Why just not ditch the doorbell camera altogether?
Same. I went with them as a “good enough” option when I needed cameras because I have had a good experience with Anker products, but they’ve slowly enshitified to the point that I’d drop them in a heartbeat if the budget was there.
If I don’t control it, I won’t install it.
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My favorite part is how cops will break cover or obscure doorbell cams all the time.
Yes. In fact, it’s long past time, and it’s already been done countless times before; nobody seems to be listening. People have been pointing to growing authoritarian States for years, and yet the entire globe seems to be all-in on giving police states another try (or are so privileged they don’t care).
Time to take back your privacy yourself. Hopefully this article will reach some normies who didn’t give it any other thought.
I’ve noticed that anyone who has gotten one newly installed can’t stop looking at it for every small thing. It’s like built-in paranoia. Not to mention that every time I take a walk in my neighborhood I’m now on bunch of different people’s cameras without even knowing it.
Yet, somehow Google Glass was reason to beat up its nosy users.
I use unifi cameras that save to a local nvr which is inaccessible off my network.
Been eyeing this. I have older unifi internet equipment, and with a recent wifi radio purchase, I realize one seems to need their cloud key or gateway products now
Yep. This is the way. G4 Pro is pretty good, too.
Are there good local backup options? I have some Ubiquiti gear but their camera system seems too locked down
Unifi released their NAS product(just a NAS, no apps). You can archive selected footage to it or some cloud providers. You can also back up a Unifi NAS to another Unifi NAS either at the same location or remote.
Edit: Just to clarify Protect allows archiving to any CIFS/SMB share. It’s not automatic though. You have to manually export the clips you want.
Blue Iris will use pretty Much any cameras including Ubiquiti, has a mobile app for viewing and alerts, and has self hosted AI object recognition using code project. Its entirely off the grid if you want it to be. I know it just saves to folders that you could backup, but it will also do ftp, etc out of the box
Hm. I’m not sure.
I know they expose rtsp or rstp or whatever protocol, so maybe you could wire something up to record off the stream.
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If you are going to use a cloud camera system, look into the company and make sure that they have proper E2EE.
An NVR is probably the best bet, but if you want a dumb consumer cloud cam, HomeKit Secure cameras like Eve are a reasonable solution. It’s all encrypted in iCloud, which cops still hate, which is a good sign.
If you’re okay with self hosted take a look at scrypted for HomeKit
Or HomeAssistant with Frigate
TIL that Ring has a social media platform where neighbors can communicate and share with each other videos/photos that Ring systems collect just like a civilian surveillance dystopia.
90% of it is idiots reporting deer/coyote sightings or falsely reporting fireworks as “gunshots?!?!” at 1:00am. I have literally been woken up by stupid Ring notifications more than by the fireworks themselves.
Some of my neighbors have them and I hate walking down the street. I know it’s a public sidewalk, but hearing all the little pings and “some one is at the front door” it creeps me out. I live in a single party consent state so there’s not like anything I can do but now there’s a database with a record of when I go to/come back from work. I don’t like that. Thankfully, when signing the lease, my landlord forbid in the contact the installation on those. He also owns the houses on either side of mine… a little strip of privacy in a sea of surveillance.
I don’t think single party technically would cover that. The neighbors would have to be involved in the interaction to give themselves permission to record it.
How close are the front doors? I live in a pretty dense city and I’ve never heard them go off like that.
Good guy landlord, remember to tip well
Gr8 b8
My neighbor’s camera caught someone doing a hit and run on my car, eternally grateful for that!
Except they can do the same thing without opted into a massive surveillance system that tracks your comings and goings and hands it over to the government to be used against you.
Which I agree with… IE I like the system of “your camera catches a hit and run”, you can go knock on their door, ask them to share the footage with you… and you give it to your lawyer, cops or insurance adjusters as you see fit.
What people like me don’t like is the idea that the cops decide to search your permission, use your footage to prosecute a crime you wouldn’t want to. Imagine the same scenerio… except instead of a hit and run… lets say it was say someone delivering pot… or a hispanic person just going home for the day, and ICE was looking for someone to bother, etc…
Point is we’re all happy to be witnesses to crimes that hurt people. but we also know you give cops too much power… and you’ll find horrible things happening
Well, after we put in our cameras, the cops did come knocking to investigate a shooting across the street.
As I explained to the cops: “The cameras trigger on motion, not sound, and they’re only pointed at our property, not across the street. No records.”
Cops left after that.
I use a POE doorbell camera that is blocked from the Internet.
I use a hardwired button that makes a bell sound inside my house.
I use a specialised hammer-and-anvil system that produces an audible notification whenever someone use it.
I get stakeholders in the me-visiting community to self-empower their activity through user induced notification media
I tie a toy chicken to a wall that when honked, creates an audible sound.
I have a sign that says “Shout to enter”.
@jandoenermann “Always has been”
