Beware: Your Home Security Cam Is Watching You

 

Beware: Your Home Security Cam Is Watching You

It's weird to see how you act when nobody's looking

I'll never forget being creeped out by “Private Eye,” a 1949 short story by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore. In it, a futuristic technology lets “forensic sociologists” replay anything that's ever happened, going back 50 years, by analyzing walls and surfaces. The protagonist plans a murder entirely in his head, knowing that everything he says and does is being recorded. “It is nerve-racking to know you're living under the scrutiny of an extratemporal Eye,” he thinks to himself.

No kidding. He ultimately engages in 18 months of serving and flattering the man he intends to kill, all to throw off the future investigation.

I remembered that story when I reviewed a home security camera called the Nest Cam IQ. Like most Wi-Fi cameras, it lets you peek in on your home from anywhere, using your phone—and even rewind into the past. For a fee, this camera stores up to 30 days' worth of continuously recorded video.

Prease to read more here:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/beware-your-home-...

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Never argue with a pig. It makes you look foolish and it anoys the hell out of the pig!

The problem is not with the

The problem is not with the cam watching you, it's where the data is stored.

If it's stored in your house and is under your control that's not so bad. If the data is stored in the cloud, then who knows who is getting their kicks from watching you. More than creepy if you ask me.

And the guy who wrote the story wanted his wife to install one in her apartment. She said no. Probably didn't want him to watch her and the boyfriend (or girlfriend) being cozy.

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I never get lost, but I do explore new territory every now and then.

the cloud

people don't seem to realize the cloud is just hard drive stored some place that claim to be secure and gets hacked. the only things I save to the cloud are old family pictures . as far as cams go and I have two and both face the ceiling if you can remotely control and view them so can somebody else . I only use mine when doing a video call to people I know and I don't record it. in this day and age security isn't very good credit score company's banks hospitals are all getting hacked, I store important private information in a safety deposit box ! yes I know a bank can be robed but at least you know it was done right away not 6 months later like some of the larger company's that got hacked finally report it !

In the clouds

With working in IT for decades, people just don't seem to get the point that geo334 makes about cloud storage.I will NEVER use it for ANY of my files..it simply is not secure as much as vendors want you to believe it is, it's like having a storage locker for your belongings and leaving the keys in a punch bowl at the door.
The same goes for these apps and programs that offer to store and manage all of your passwords...just don't do it.
Go with the attitude that NOTHING is secure online, and treat everything on your computer as such.

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Nuvi 2595LMT, Nuvi 40, GPSMAP 62s, TomTom One XL -Change what you can, manage what you can't.

Agreed...

NOTHING stored online or in your computer is safe from hackers.

I have the Nest camera system. The outdoor cams are on 24/7 but the ones indoors are disconnected unless we are away.

And then

There are those stupid things they sell to sit in your house and you command it similar like "SIRI". Those things will transmit anything to god only know where !!!

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Nuvi 2797LMT, DriveSmart 50 LMT-HD, Using Windows 10. DashCam A108C with GPS.

HAL 9000

Melaqueman wrote:

There are those stupid things they sell to sit in your house and you command it similar like "SIRI". Those things will transmit anything to god only know where !!!

Agreed, smacks too much of HAL in 2001 A Space Odyssey..I also turn off Cortana in Windows 10...not that that stops MS from knowing everything about you..but I ain't helping them.

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Nuvi 2595LMT, Nuvi 40, GPSMAP 62s, TomTom One XL -Change what you can, manage what you can't.

cortana

turning off Cortana in Windows 10 how did you do that? I have turned it off in settings, but when you bring up task manager it shows it is still running in the background ! and if you turn it off with task manager it starts right back again !

Eavesdropping

geo334 wrote:

turning off Cortana in Windows 10 how did you do that? I have turned it off in settings, but when you bring up task manager it shows it is still running in the background ! and if you turn it off with task manager it starts right back again !

If you actually disable it (via regedit) then you lose the search box, however if you choose not to allow Cortana (Windows 10) to "learn" your speech pattern, in effect you are disallowing Cortana from eavesdropping on you..or at least that is the theory.
True, that it shows as running in task manager because it is the "search" feature that is the running process.
Hope that clarifies a bit. smile

Here's a good link describing the process.. I'd be careful as hell doing this as a mistype can render your PC useless.
https://www.laptopmag.com/articles/turn-cortana-windows-10

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Nuvi 2595LMT, Nuvi 40, GPSMAP 62s, TomTom One XL -Change what you can, manage what you can't.

Cloud storage is just

Cloud storage is just convience, nothing secure regardless of what each company promise.

Uh duh..

An innocent person has nothing to fear wink

another problem

Someone can also determine that nobody is at home. What if security camera shows vehicle being packed for vacation. Better to have your own video server.

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Steve - 2 Nuvi 3597

Uh no

allbizz wrote:

An innocent person has nothing to fear wink

That's naive thinking beyond my comprehension.

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I never get lost, but I do explore new territory every now and then.

Nothing Is Safe Anymore

KenSny wrote:
allbizz wrote:

An innocent person has nothing to fear wink

That's naive thinking beyond my comprehension.

No matter what precautions you take NOBODY is safe from what is available to hackers.
If they want it they will get it with all the information that is available in the world we now live in.
How many companies get hacked, including the Government and that personal information about you. I believe soon Social Security numbers will be a thing of the past and with all the identity theft that is ever more prevalent each passing day.

With all this technology we have at our fingertips we are falling victims to people that have intentions that are less than honest.

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Nuvi 2460LMT 2 Units

Bang on

"No matter what precautions you take NOBODY is safe from what is available to hackers.
If they want it they will get it with all the information that is available in the world we now live in.
How many companies get hacked, including the Government and that personal information about you. I believe soon Social Security numbers will be a thing of the past and with all the identity theft that is ever more prevalent each passing day

With all this technology we have at our fingertips we are falling victims to people that have intentions that are less than honest."
[/quote]

It's a perpetual false sense of security when using any technology connected to the web..I try and strees this to friends and colleagues that do banking, shopping and social media online.. mostly to deaf ears.

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Nuvi 2595LMT, Nuvi 40, GPSMAP 62s, TomTom One XL -Change what you can, manage what you can't.

Nothing New

Over 20 years ago, friends who were into using a scanner to listen to the police discovered that the scanner could also pick up the frequencies used by baby monitors. They would listen to their neighbors arguing about whose turn it was to "change the stinking diaper"...

.

Clouds leak.

Apples and oranges

EV Driver wrote:

Over 20 years ago, friends who were into using a scanner to listen to the police discovered that the scanner could also pick up the frequencies used by baby monitors. They would listen to their neighbors arguing about whose turn it was to "change the stinking diaper"...

Not at all the same actually, one is illegally eavesdropping using a UHF scanner, and the other is internet security on third party servers.

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Nuvi 2595LMT, Nuvi 40, GPSMAP 62s, TomTom One XL -Change what you can, manage what you can't.

Scanner

Johnny Coffee wrote:
EV Driver wrote:

Over 20 years ago, friends who were into using a scanner to listen to the police discovered that the scanner could also pick up the frequencies used by baby monitors. They would listen to their neighbors arguing about whose turn it was to "change the stinking diaper"...

Not at all the same actually, one is illegally eavesdropping using a UHF scanner, and the other is internet security on third party servers.

I'm not a HAM operator , but I do know that it was/is not illegal to listen in to even police radio. But there is a stipulation that it could not be used for any personal, monetary or commercial gain.

Having said that, police have long ago switched over to digitally scrambled transmissions making it virtually impossible to listen in now,at least in larger cities. Unless a receiver is customized at some expense to do so.

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Nuvi 2797LMT, DriveSmart 50 LMT-HD, Using Windows 10. DashCam A108C with GPS.

That is correct

Nothing secured on the cloud.

Can you hear me now?

Melaqueman wrote:
Johnny Coffee wrote:
EV Driver wrote:

Over 20 years ago, friends who were into using a scanner to listen to the police discovered that the scanner could also pick up the frequencies used by baby monitors. They would listen to their neighbors arguing about whose turn it was to "change the stinking diaper"...

Not at all the same actually, one is illegally eavesdropping using a UHF scanner, and the other is internet security on third party servers.

I'm not a HAM operator , but I do know that it was/is not illegal to listen in to even police radio. But there is a stipulation that it could not be used for any personal, monetary or commercial gain.

Having said that, police have long ago switched over to digitally scrambled transmissions making it virtually impossible to listen in now,at least in larger cities. Unless a receiver is customized at some expense to do so.

In the day of non digitally scrambled police transmission it really depends/depended on where you live and local law, in Canada it was/is(?) illegal to listen in via a police (UHF) scanner..now enters the ever present grey zone of the law where it comes to apps that allow you to do just this.
I'm certain it is akin to radar detectors, they are not illegal to buy..but to be caught using them is a whole new ball of wax.
And it IS illegal to eavesdrop on the aforementioned baby monitor then and now..

An excerpt from the Canadian Criminal Code:
184 (1) Every one who, by means of any electro-magnetic, acoustic, mechanical or other device, wilfully intercepts a private communication is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years. Criminal Code of Canada, RSC 1985, c C-46.

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Nuvi 2595LMT, Nuvi 40, GPSMAP 62s, TomTom One XL -Change what you can, manage what you can't.

Smartphones listening

Sometimes I think our smartphones are already listening to our every conversation in hopes of making better predictions for search results. I and friends have experienced occasions where you're talking about something as a group and as soon as you open up Google, it suggests the very thing you were just talking about - or an advertisement for it, etc. Crazy! ...And don't get me started with Amazon Echo, etc. Who knows what that's listening to 24/7 but people often sacrifice privacy for tech convenience.

Always on

ptownoddy wrote:

Sometimes I think our smartphones are already listening to our every conversation in hopes of making better predictions for search results. I and friends have experienced occasions where you're talking about something as a group and as soon as you open up Google, it suggests the very thing you were just talking about - or an advertisement for it, etc. Crazy! ...And don't get me started with Amazon Echo, etc. Who knows what that's listening to 24/7 but people often sacrifice privacy for tech convenience.

You couldn't be more correct... Android devices are one of the worst for permissions with the system and especially apps.. Android generally has COMPLETE control and access to everything that you look at,talk to, listen to, watch, browse as well as knowing all of your contacts, passwords and WiFi information. And at the end of the day, there's nothing you can do about it if you want to continue to use Android.

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Nuvi 2595LMT, Nuvi 40, GPSMAP 62s, TomTom One XL -Change what you can, manage what you can't.

To be safe

Don't store anything on the cloud. Nothing is safe out there.

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EGMJR

Upgraded Cams today

I just don't use cams in house, if we travel can always put one indoors. This Arlo Pro 2 is great, never had a wireless that could penetrate all these walls before, will have 5 cams, all overlapping. 7 day cloud free online.

I'm not a fan of the eye in the sky, but ...

My nephew had a fire in his house the night before last. He had just had a bad breakup with his live in girlfriend and told her to move out. 15 minutes after she moves all her belongings out of the house my nephew goes to bed and the fire starts. He was sure she had something to do with it.

Last night however we were able to retrieve his dvr that recorded the events that took place that evening. It turns out she had nothing to do with it, a charging battery for one of his drones had caught fire. All just a crazy matter of timing.

Never Wise To Assume

BSideTheCSide wrote:

My nephew had a fire in his house the night before last. He had just had a bad breakup with his live in girlfriend and told her to move out. 15 minutes after she moves all her belongings out of the house my nephew goes to bed and the fire starts. He was sure she had something to do with it.

Last night however we were able to retrieve his dvr that recorded the events that took place that evening. It turns out she had nothing to do with it, a charging battery for one of his drones had caught fire. All just a crazy matter of timing.

Hopefully there was not too much damage done, and most importantly nobody was hurt. I feel bad for the girl since she didn't do it.

These damn batteries are causing many issues to people.

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Nuvi 2460LMT 2 Units

Thanks

Yes indeed my nephew and his two dogs got out alright, but his house is pretty much charbroiled. He's actually staying with us for the time being until he finds a new place, and has been instructed to stay away from all battery charging devices while he's here, lol.

DamnBatteries

Glad no one was hurt, but every-time I hear of Lithium-Ion batteries spontaneously cumbusting it honestly makes me wonder why they are still using this process.Possibly there will be a change in the near future so drone batteries don't burn down houses.
Great advice at the end of your comment!

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Nuvi 2595LMT, Nuvi 40, GPSMAP 62s, TomTom One XL -Change what you can, manage what you can't.