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Ask HN: Any home security cameras that don’t force you to use their spyware app?

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Ask HN: Any home security cameras that don’t force you to use their spyware app?

#1

Post by kcindric »

I want to setup a home camera system (2-3 units) so I can watch what’s happening with my two cats when I’m out of the apartment for a longer period. There’s a lot out of the box solutions on Amazon like [this Eufy camera](https://www.amazon.de/Security-surveillance-detection-assistant-required-White/dp/B086LBCQJL) but it forces you to use their proprietary software with an account which gives me the creeps.

Any other more privacy friendly solution out there? I have a home server which I access using a VPN.

Re: Ask HN: Any home security cameras that don’t force you to use their spyware app?

#2

Post by davismwfl »

My security system is pretty basic but super reliable and isolated/safe overall.

I use BlueIris for the NVR software (it is cheap) and I buy various cheap IP cameras that support OnVIF (almost all try to phone home, some directly to china IPs). But what I do is I put all the cameras on an isolated LAN that does not have access to the internet. My BlueIris server has two NIC's one for the video lan and the other for my data network. BlueIris has a static IP and is locked down as well to what it can access externally.

Two ways you can make BlueIris work outside your home, use a VPN on your mobile device (absolute safest), or use their free DDNS to point to your box. Their system seems fairly decent, and I've done both methods. I also log all the requests on both LANs and check them every so often to see what is happening.

It seriously doesn't cost much to set this up, especially for just a couple of cameras.

Re: Ask HN: Any home security cameras that don’t force you to use their spyware app?

#3

Post by lax4ever »

Home Assistant is a great self-hosted tool for smart home things. They have a list of compatible devices that may be useful. Would require setting up a home assistant server somewhere, but that seems like a small price to pay for managing your own data.

https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/#camera

Re: Ask HN: Any home security cameras that don’t force you to use their spyware app?

#5

Post by otterpro »

Like mentioned before, get any IP camera and make sure it has ONVIF. On software side, ZoneMinder is a popular OSS NVR/DVR for Linux. That way, all the recording remains on my self-hosted solution or on my home server and not to a 3rd party cloud service. I bought my cheap security camera from Amazon with ONVIF and they've been better than expected.

Re: Ask HN: Any home security cameras that don’t force you to use their spyware app?

#7

Post by racked »

davismwfl wrote: post #2

My security system is pretty basic but super reliable and isolated/safe overall. I use BlueIris for the NVR software (it is cheap) and I buy various cheap IP cameras that support OnVIF (almost all try to phone home, some directly to china IPs). But what I do is I put all the cameras on an isolated LAN that does not have access to the internet. My BlueIris server has two NIC's one for the video lan and the other for m…

Care to share the brand/model of those cameras? Thanks!

Re: Ask HN: Any home security cameras that don’t force you to use their spyware app?

#8

Post by davismwfl »

racked wrote: post #7
davismwfl wrote: post #2

My security system is pretty basic but super reliable and isolated/safe overall. I use BlueIris for the NVR software (it is cheap) and I buy various cheap IP cameras that support OnVIF (almost all try to phone home, some directly to china IPs). But what I do is I put all the cameras on an isolated LAN that does not have access to the internet. My BlueIris server has two NIC's one for the video lan and the other for m…

Care to share the brand/model of those cameras? Thanks!

I have two different ones in the system right now (around 14 cameras total). Amcrest and SV3C are the brands and both are available on Amazon pretty cheap. I have a mix of 5MP and 4k cameras where it makes sense for better details etc. I also have a mix of the bullet cameras and the bowl versions.

I am pretty sure the SV3C brand is just a rebranded Dahua or similar, just a little different software.

FWIW: I also never use their mobile app to set them up, I just plug them into the isolated network and use the web interface to configure them.

Re: Ask HN: Any home security cameras that don’t force you to use their spyware app?

#9

Post by zeroping »

otterpro wrote: post #5

Like mentioned before, get any IP camera and make sure it has ONVIF. On software side, ZoneMinder is a popular OSS NVR/DVR for Linux. That way, all the recording remains on my self-hosted solution or on my home server and not to a 3rd party cloud service. I bought my cheap security camera from Amazon with ONVIF and they've been better than expected.

Frigate https://frigate.video/ is a strong up and coming NVR that does object detection. Many people are using it with relatively inexpensive Amcrest, Dahua, or other RTSP cameras, and then isolating those cameras so they can only send traffic to the NVR.

Re: Ask HN: Any home security cameras that don’t force you to use their spyware app?

#10

Post by runjake »

Eufy doesn’t force you to use their software — well, after setup. I have a bunch of Eufy C24 cameras deployed in RTSP mode.

I have them blocked from the Internet with logging turned on. I’ve never noticed them attempt to reach out.

Same with a bunch of Annke cameras, which are rebadged Hikvision cameras. Annke are cheap but pretty good quality cameras that do RTSP and all the other usual stuff. They never require their own app.

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