Posted on 11/20/2019 7:01:26 PM PST by Theoria
Police officers who download videos captured by homeowners Ring doorbell cameras can keep them forever and share them with whomever theyd like without providing evidence of a crime, the Amazon-owned firm told a lawmaker this month.
More than 600 police forces across the country have entered into partnerships with the camera giant, allowing them to quickly request and download video recorded by Rings motion-detecting, Internet-connected cameras inside and around Americans homes.
The company says that the videos can be a critical tool in helping law enforcement investigate crimes such as trespassing, burglary and package theft, and that homeowners are free to decline the requests. But some lawmakers and privacy advocates say the systems could empower more widespread police surveillance, fuel racial profiling and spark new neighborhood fears.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
For the same price you can buy your own video surveillance system with the same capabilities but it is all yours with no 3rd party connections.
This same type of situation with ring makes me wonder about the Microsoft Cloud privacy and why I would never use it.
“and only criminals fear them.”
The road to a police state is paved with statements like that.
“Don’t know about Ring, but I use Arlo cameras, and they are to record to an external hard drive that is attached to the base unit. So there are some systems that don’t require cloud based service.”
Yep. with smartphone/PC software and all for the same price or less and YOU own it not the manufacturer.
Growing up in my old neighborhood in the US, if you were wandering around, looked like you were casing the place for burglary, and couldn't give a convincing legitimate reason for being there, the local teens would beat you up and tell you not to come around any more.
Later, that tradition declined. So did the neighborhood.
“Guess what, if youre on Facebook youre already in the facial recognition system.”
Yep, camera and audio without your knowledge. Youtube does this too.
And if you're burglarized, and they take the base unit, it defeats the purpose of the security system.
Not if you keep it in a Faraday bag.
bfl
That’s just acknowledging reality. Once something gets downloaded the originator has lost all control.
I don’t think that’s extreme enough. We need to deal with thieves by flogging or the stocks.
Jurisprudence has been straight downhill since Augustus Caesar.
If I find one I’m going to put it in a bottle and plant it where no one is likely to accidentally find it- with a nice little booby-trap for when they go to retrieve it.
I’d love to have some automation and other handy gizmos but it would have to be a system built from scratch using open source software and small components assembled by me.
No google, amazon or any other brand name pre-assembled crap
How many decimal places you reckon Ill need to spell out the percentage of mobile phone toting society that keep their phone in a Faraday cage?
The base unit is actually quite secure and out of sight, along with the attached external hard drive. The cameras all wirelessly connect to the base unit.
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