We can only hope these companies are treated as collaborators in the future.

Oh noooo, that thing we warned people about when it came out is being misused in exactly the way we warned people it would be misused.

Oh nooooo.

I'm tired grandpa. Too damn many stupid people in this world.

While you’re at it, don’t buy from amazon

Oh look another smart technology I didn't adopt for the exact reason being talked about. You can't trust big tech to not collaborate with whoever it's the most profitable to collaborate with.

Have considered a plain old doorbel and a peep hole on the door?

Low tech, cheap, cheap to install, lasts a lifetime.

Heck, if safety is the concern, install a periscope. Yes, mirrora inside a tube, to get to see, from a distance, who is at the door.

You want footage? Photos?

Install a local camera. Like one of those that are setup by biologists to film animals in the wild. Triggered by motion sensing. Or talk with someone technically inclined and install a local system.

Can we all agree to print out flyers of this to share around with neighbors and our communities? People ARE under educated. It starts with us educating because the oligarchs wont

This really highlights how important it is for people to understand what they’re opting into with smart devices. Transparency and informed choice matter more than ever.

Don't buy anything from Amazon.

Ring is owned by Amazon, so it makes sense. You can't really trust any company fully, but Anker and Reolink are OK for now

this is great news for my leftist in-laws who decided to get ring cameras out of the convenience they offered.

I did warn them that this would happen, but like most people, "that would never happen!"

Tl;dr surveillance equipment working perfectly, used for dystopian surveillance. Major shocker.

Corporations and fascists: name a better duo

Here's an archive link in case anyone else refuses to give Substack views due to their affinity for Nazis: https://archive.is/ns4Yq

Ditch your internet connected shit and boycott these companies

I enjoy having cameras on my house to see what's going on in the neighborhood. It has come in handy at least once when my neighbor's truck was stolen in broad daylight.

They are ring cameras because two were installed already when I moved in. What should I switch to? I just really want motion alerts and proof when something bad happens.

I remember last year when there was a trend of AI generated videos that depicted animals or people doing ridiculous and crazy things on doorbell cameras. Everyone was surprised at how realistic they looked but never questioned why there was enough training data of doorbell cameras to make them in the first place.

Not that relevant, but it makes it pretty clear how "private" this data was in the first place.

As far as I can tell it's still voluntary. This is their policy. It sounds like if you choose to share photos or video with public safety organizations, that now Flock and hence ICE can access it.

That all said, fuck Flock and I certainly don't want anything I share (which I never have) to contribute to the profits of a private surveillance company. The solution here appears to be share nothing with public safety at all ever so that contract is worth nothing.

Is there some really good open source and local cameras that people are using? Because many people default to ring.

stallmanwasright.jpg

Dammit, I fell for rings assurances of “only in response to a warrant”. Mostly out of laziness, but still ….. I really am going to have to figure out self hosting a video doorbell, aren’t i

Home "security" cameras cause far, far more angst and grief than they do benefit.

"Hey, mister policeman, here's a video of a guy stealing my truck."

"Yep, that's a guy stealing your truck, alright."

"..."

"Should'a put it in your garage."

"My garage is full of crap I bought on Amazon. Some of it, I haven't even opened. Also, the truck didn't fit in the garage after I had it lifted."

"The report is filed, I'll let you know if we find anything."

"You're not going to find anything, are you?"

"We're not even going to look."

One-third of Nextdoor is lost pets. One-third is people selling crap they bought at Goodwill. And, the last third is people asking about the "suspicious" (non-white) man who walked down the sidewalk past their house at 5AM.

I bought a ring camera in 2018 and I haven't replaced it. They disabled color view to try to get me to to buy a new one. Thankfully I haven't connected it to Amazon or anything yet. I immediately disconnected it after reading this, fucking Amazon.

I will never have a goddamn camera in my home. If I did it will HAVE to be an old school disconnected one that records to a DVR or some SSD HD. I have zero interest in having any unauthorized or unknown access to the interior of my home. This is a goddamn outrage, how is everyone not throwing their ring cameras out already?

Of course that happened, that happens every time when you buy things but then don't own them.

I'll buy cams for my home, but they'll be for ME alone because they're MY cameras, MY video.

Obligatory fuck Amazon and fuck the USA

It would not surprise me if this inspired systematic vandalism of these devices. Not that I would ever advocate for such a thing.

I’ve got a Ubiquiti setup with cameras and a doorbell. It isn’t cheap but it’s local and I highly recommend them if you have the budget.

It's crazy how fast this is going.