Devices that collect information on you

I am staggered that people pay so much for doorbell cameras. Particularly as they are of little help or use year on year.

I've fitted front and back security cameras but do not pay an annual fee but just save generally pointless data onto an SDcard in the Hub. Then every now and then format the card and start again.
 
I bought two TAPO cameras and hub which operate via a phone app. From memory I think they are C200 but can't check as I'm in Australia at the moment. They were less than £200 for both and are a well made product. Cameras are battery operated and need charging from time to time.
They operate by motion detection and you can blank out areas that you don't need to be viewed, or are a problem - like bushes and plants that wave about in the wind. The software they supply to blank out is not the best but just about OK. Maybe they'll improve it though.

I did have the Amazon Blink2 cameras initially bought without subscription but now Amazon don't like that so they crashed the software and prevented me from reinstalling unless I took out a subscription. So I went out and bought the TAPOs

TAPO keep badgering me to upgrade to a subscription and storing videos on the net but I'm not interested. Doesn't seem any point. Who needs to view video clips from a year ago, or whatever? However, TAPO's support is very good, excellent. In fact 10/10 all round for product and support.

(total opposite to Amazon. Amazon have no idea what support, or a customer is and were really hard work and I can state they came across as being intentionally unhelpful from the start. Would not advise anyone to use an Amazon product after my experience with Blink2)

I have a couple of Amazon Blink2s and the hub and if I come across someone who wants them to extend an existing installation, they can have them.
 
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AccessBlaster said:
I have two ring cameras with subscription. I mostly use them to keep an eye on the cat, see if he's loafed up on the door mat.
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Me too. Honestly I don't know what I'd do without them, they're just endlessly useful. The other day we were showing our home (it's listed for sale) and we watched the people enter and exit while we waited down the block in the car. Nice to be able to profile them a bit and know who's looking at your house. Then you have the Notifications that show a brief 4-second animation of who left or entered. I always know whether or not we already walked the dog, when my son gets home, if we got a package, etc. etc.
 
Isaac said:
Me too. Honestly I don't know what I'd do without them, they're just endlessly useful. The other day we were showing our home (it's listed for sale) and we watched the people enter and exit while we waited down the block in the car. Nice to be able to profile them a bit and know who's looking at your house. Then you have the Notifications that show a brief 4-second animation of who left or entered. I always know whether or not we already walked the dog, when my son gets home, if we got a package, etc. etc.
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Are you leaving AZ?
 
AccessBlaster said:
Are you leaving AZ?
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For the moment we're moving back into our rental in a better part of town -then regrouping to see what we really want for the longer term.
Possibilities...staying in the Phx metro area vs. moving out of state (I'm voting for SW Washington state where my brother lives).
 
moke123 said:

techcrunch.com

Amazon's Ring to partner with Flock, a network of AI cameras used by ICE, feds, and police | TechCrunch

Agencies that use Flock can request that Ring doorbell users share footage to help with "evidence collection and investigative work."
techcrunch.com techcrunch.com
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Yeah I think both ring and Amazon are pretty big on cooperating with law enforcement. Of course most people volunteer whatever recordings they have to help out the cops I think anyway... But it's nice to have a choice
 
BlueSpruce said:
Would you entertain moving to Tampa Bay area? Real estate prices have gone down here. I live in an affordable townhome, inside a gated community. HOA fee is $320/month.
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I'd consider the greater Tampa area.
320/mo...holy cow. There better be six heated pools and every kind of sports Court imaginable LOL
 
Isaac said:
Yeah I think both ring and Amazon are pretty big on cooperating with law enforcement. Of course most people volunteer whatever recordings they have to help out the cops I think anyway... But it's nice to have a choice
Click to expand...
How would you feel if your neighbor across the street opts in to allow constant access to LE? They'd be able to watch you 24/7 without your consent.
 
They'd see some really boring stuff. Me mowing the lawn, some edger action. The cat laying around etc etc.
 
BlueSpruce said:
Some would feel more protected, others violated. Surveillance is ubiquitous. There's no escaping it. Our mobile devices are beacons. They can find, watch, and hear us anywhere anytime.
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I'm more concerned by the partnership with Flock. A non-LE company. They need not play by the same rules. They are the company behind the LPR camera database that I was testing a few months ago.
 
If they use your neighbors video feed against you as a surveillance tactic they better have their ducks in a row. Because that's different than your neighbor catching a random crime and cooperating with police.
 
Flock sells access to their database. The company I use buys the data from them. When I was testing it I was amazed at how many times and places my license plate was read. Unfortunately the $5000+ a month price tag was a little too much for us. I did track a random license plate from the street and was able to determine who they were, where they lived, worked, shopped, etc.

  • Data is stored securely in the cloud with encryption and is automatically deleted after a default of 30 days, unless a different retention period is required by local law or specified by an elected governing body.
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This was discussed in the meeting we had. IIRC, only certain types of data need to be deleted after 30 days. Think your local meter maid who uses LPR's. Private companies don't have to. Flock was rumored to be setting up a deal with UPS, Amazon and other delivery companies to install LPR's on their trucks. How many times a week does UPS drive down your street? Stop at your office?

As far as cellphones . . . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sting...ountermeasures to,a system to catch Stingrays.
 
moke123 said:
How would you feel if your neighbor across the street opts in to allow constant access to LE? They'd be able to watch you 24/7 without your consent.
Click to expand...
Our subdivision was built with 100% Ring so basically as you take a walk down the sidewalk, you hear the 'you are currently being recorded' every 3 seconds. I certainly don't feel good about it, but I've accepted it - I've accepted the reality that anyone who wants to can put a camera on their property that goes across the street, over the top of a fence, or certainly to the sidewalk/street.

And then it naturally follows they can share that with anyone they like.

I don't feel good about it, but I've kinda accepted it as being.
 
What I'd like to do is record the jerk who lets his 3 dogs out at 5 AM every day, over on the side of my house that we have little to no visibility, and poops them on the gravel between my house and the street and doesn't pick it up!! Now that ought to be a capital offense! I'm SO sick of it, just be a real man and pick up your dog's sh*t
 
BlueSpruce said:
Put up one of those camo wildlife hunting cams. The HOA in the previous community I lived in put them up and caught underage perps that were breaking into our vehicles.
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I'm definitely thinking about it.
I would need to get one though I mean they're almost free they're so cheap where it starts getting pricier is paying for options to have it live stream and auto save to the cloud for a while, sigh, one more monthly subscription All because of a dog poop idiot
 
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