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Nest Cam status lights can no longer be turned off for privacy

androidpolice.com

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Re: Nest Cam status lights can no longer be turned off for privacy

#41

Post by marklyon »

tomatotomato37 wrote: post #3

>As it turns out, many people use these security cams to secure their homes and don't want thieves to know that they're being watched I don't get this argument. The whole reason the fake security camera market exists is to deter crime by giving the illusion of being actively watched; if you want to play spy and switch it off to prove a person's true nature it is your business, but at the end of the day the crime has…

How many cameras do you pass each day that have a glowing/flashing indicator on them? None of the commercial cameras in my workplace or condo building have lights.

This change is extremely frustrating to me. I actually got valuable footage from my Dropcam Pro (now Nest) that I would not have recorded otherwise when someone was admitted to my apartment unsupervised in order to perform a task.

The Dropcam was on a shelf with a lot of other knickknacks and had a great view of my desk, living room and kitchen. The guy actually picked up the camera and called his accomplice over to look. Got a great image of both of them.

The light was off and they decided it was broken or not plugged in and put it back - where I then had a clear view of them collecting my personal documents, mail and financial records so they could take photographs for later use.

After searching, they found where I stored checks and credit cards that weren’t in use. They took random checks out of the checkbook and photographed the front and back of the card.

They then completed the work they’d been sent to do.

I noticed something was amiss when I came home, but nothing was obviously missing. Had I not had the video, the two would never have been arrested and convicted. Those responsible for admitting the duo would also likely have avoided their liability, having clear video of the incident allowed me to quickly resolve that claim (and effectively address the more than $200k in false charges, plus tax fraud, plus identity theft that resulted).

Re: Nest Cam status lights can no longer be turned off for privacy

#42

Post by tomp »

tomatotomato37 wrote: post #3

>As it turns out, many people use these security cams to secure their homes and don't want thieves to know that they're being watched I don't get this argument. The whole reason the fake security camera market exists is to deter crime by giving the illusion of being actively watched; if you want to play spy and switch it off to prove a person's true nature it is your business, but at the end of the day the crime has…

It's much easier to avoid and/or remove the camera if it's shining.

Re: Nest Cam status lights can no longer be turned off for privacy

#43

Post by post_break »

heavenlyblue wrote: post #35
post_break wrote: post #18

I'm pissed because the whole point of an outdoor camera is to not advertise when someone is watching. If they don't back pedal on this I'm switching to ubiquity and running my own NVR so I don't have to worry about someone in california deciding to change how a product I own works.

>> is to not advertise when someone is watching. Are you doing a Ph.D in social sciences?

Why the snarky comment? When you're outside or on my property you have no expectation of privacy.

Re: Nest Cam status lights can no longer be turned off for privacy

#44

Post by UnFleshedOne »

mymacbook wrote: post #25

Having a status light ON for an outside camera seems smart for both sides – pro-privacy & communicating the property is under surveillance. What sounds frustrating is that when your network / wifi connection goes down the status light flashes amber – there was never a way to turn this feature off even if you had the status light off (previously). If you're a potential thief and you see am amber flashing light on a Dr…

I don't know how nest camera is built like, but can't you cover the light with a bit of tape and be done with it?

Re: Nest Cam status lights can no longer be turned off for privacy

#45

Post by wlesieutre »

fpgaminer wrote: post #40
wlesieutre wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I talked to someone yesterday who didn't trust Amazon enough to use an Alexa device after the recent audio recording publicity. Imagine their surprise when I let them know who owns their Ring doorbells and security cameras.

To be fair, Amazon only recently bought Ring (early 2018), and I recall the products being quite popular even before Amazon's acquisition. So really it may be the case of someone actively choosing not to buy a FAANG product, only to be sucked in later by Amazon's blackhole.

That's exactly what happened. Same deal for anyone with Eero mesh routers (Amazon) and Nest/DropCam (Google). It's impossible to avoid them in technology because they just buy everything.

Re: Nest Cam status lights can no longer be turned off for privacy

#46

Post by marklyon »

UnFleshedOne wrote: post #44
mymacbook wrote: post #25

Having a status light ON for an outside camera seems smart for both sides – pro-privacy & communicating the property is under surveillance. What sounds frustrating is that when your network / wifi connection goes down the status light flashes amber – there was never a way to turn this feature off even if you had the status light off (previously). If you're a potential thief and you see am amber flashing light on a Dr…

I don't know how nest camera is built like, but can't you cover the light with a bit of tape and be done with it?

Yes, but you risk also blocking the IR illuminators that let it work at night.

Re: Nest Cam status lights can no longer be turned off for privacy

#47

Post by cr0sh »

jaxbot wrote: post #37
rubbingalcohol wrote: post #6

How about don't put Google surveillance cameras in your home? You don't "own" anything Google or Microsoft sells you. You are licensing their tech and you are their bitch when they decide to pull the rug out from under you. People tolerate such abusive, anti-consumer behavior and invasion of privacy all in the name of convenience. In any relationship people have an ethical responsibility to not enable abusive behavio…

Even on a lighter note, I'm getting more and more frustrated at cloud device providers changing features on a whim. For example, I own Nest products that I bought to integrated into my 'smart home'. Now Google is ripping out the API for Nest products and making us use Google Assistant. Google Assistant is repeatedly changing behaviors and breaking my workflow. I understand I'm a tiny segment of the market, but it's h…

Got the skills to build your own stuff (sensors, etc)?

Plenty of examples out there - plenty of instructables and other tutorial-like information to build these items.

For a camera - cheapest kit that I know of currently is what is called an "ESP32 Camera Module" (you can find them on Amazon, Ali Express, Ebay, etc) - something like a 5MP camera connected to an ESP32. Code, etc done up using (usually) Python.

Next cheapest - and easiest to implement and use - is a Raspberry Pi Zero W, a cheap RasPi camera module, and a copy of MotionEyeOS - note that'll make you a single IP camera. You can run MotionEyeOS on a more powerful system and have it monitor multiple cameras if you want. But the best system for that would by to build those same cameras using either the ESP32 solution, or MotionEyeOS, then turn on streaming mpeg for the camera, and use ZoneMinder on a powerful machine to monitor a larger number of cameras.

There are open source solutions (hardware and software) for controlling your thermostat (including zone-based AC), switching outlets on/off, watering your lawn, monitoring indoor/outdoor temperatures, plus tones of other possibilities.

A quick google search will bring up anything you want, but again, you will usually need to have some hardware and software chops to make it all work. The MotionEyeOS is probably the easiest thing to put together, as you are just taking a bunch of off-the-shelf components and assembling them, flashing the software and plugging it in.

Re: Nest Cam status lights can no longer be turned off for privacy

#48

Post by cr0sh »

jlarocco wrote: post #29
asdf21 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You really aren't using your imagination if you can't figure out potential uses for a hidden nanny cam. What if I want to see: * If my cleaning person is stealing? * If my cleaning person is using the right chemicals on my stove? * If the nanny is shaking the baby? * If my husband is having an affair? * If my teenager is doing drugs? * Which sibling actually started it / threw the first punch? Those are just off the…

Unless you're hiring, marrying, and raising the dumbest people around, they're probably smart enough to not perform those activities in front of a video camera in any case. Security cameras don't usually have indicator lights, so the safe assumption is always that the camera is recording.

Security cameras also don't always look like security cameras...but most (especially Nest devices) do. However, if I was trying to find out some kind of nefarious activity within my home, I wouldn't put up an obvious security camera, unless it was to redirect the potential perp toward somewhere that has the actual camera - hidden as a book, or something similar - ideally, it fits right in with its environment, and doesn't look at all out of placce...

Re: Nest Cam status lights can no longer be turned off for privacy

#49

Post by cr0sh »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #28
asdf21 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You really aren't using your imagination if you can't figure out potential uses for a hidden nanny cam. What if I want to see: * If my cleaning person is stealing? * If my cleaning person is using the right chemicals on my stove? * If the nanny is shaking the baby? * If my husband is having an affair? * If my teenager is doing drugs? * Which sibling actually started it / threw the first punch? Those are just off the…

> What if I want to see: If my cleaning person is stealing?* Use your camera. The status light doesn’t disable its ability to record and transmit video. You want to record these people without their knowledge. That is just wrong. More fundamentally, change the people you interact with or your relationships with them.

> That is just wrong.

I suppose it depends on what you mean by "wrong"?

For instance, it's perfectly legal to record inside your house - visibly or not - provided it's not in an area or place where the user would expect privacy (usually meaning a bathroom or similar place - but could be extended to bedrooms depending on consent and other reasons).

It might be considered unethical, perhaps even immoral, depending on the reasoning or ulimate purpose for those recordings. But legally there isn't anything wrong about it.

Note: This all depends on your local or other laws of course...

Re: Nest Cam status lights can no longer be turned off for privacy

#50

Post by cr0sh »

mrexroad wrote: post #31
ryandrake wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A black magic marker would work too.

Depends on how bright LED is

Nothing's going to get thru a black industrial sharpie; if that doesn't work, though, black fingernail polish, or if you don't mind the expense - black Testor's acrylic paint - will do the job.
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