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Ring founder Jamie Siminoff is back at the helm of the surveillance doorbell company, and with him is the surveillance-first-privacy-last approach that made Ring one of the most maligned tech devices. Not only is the company reintroducing new versions of old features which would allow police to request footage directly from Ring users, it is also introducing a new feature that would allow police to request live-st

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[-] skisnow@lemmy.ca 18 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

eh, you might have a spare day to source a completely uncompromised camera and find someone in a trusted neutral country who runs an unproblematic hosting service and configure a system to do offsite storage in a secure way, but I've got other stuff going on. If you can source me a reasonable alternative I'm happy to use it when it comes time to renew my subscription.

[-] Maestro@fedia.io 14 points 2 weeks ago

Just buy a Reolink Doorbell. Pop in an SD card. Put in on your wifi or LAN and access it with your browser. You're done. It's all local. There's an optional app that does need an external server, but that's optional and there is no subscription.

[-] pika@feddit.nl 7 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Reolink devices still reach out to a bunch of different servers across the world as soon as you connect them to a network.

Always isolate an IP doorbell or camera on its own access point or virtual network, where it can't see or interact with other devices on your local network, and then block it from WAN access.

[-] OhNoMoreLemmy@lemmy.ml 6 points 2 weeks ago

Ok, but one of the most important use cases is non-local access.

If I'm at home I can just go to the door.

[-] feannag@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 weeks ago

Wireguard/tailscale in?

[-] arcterus@piefed.blahaj.zone 3 points 2 weeks ago

I don't know anything about this product, but if the data is just on an SD card attached to the doorbell, couldn't someone just steal the SD card? Like, this is why offsite storage for cameras is useful.

[-] Maestro@fedia.io 4 points 2 weeks ago

Sure. That's why I have my Reolink doorbell hooked up to Frigate NVR running on my home server. And frigate is hooked up to my home assistant. But that's the thorough and secure solution, not the quick and easy solution that the grandparent poster was asking for.

[-] tabular@lemmy.world 8 points 2 weeks ago

An offsite server is not under your control and accessible by who knows. Surely it is still a privacy concern.

Privacy is like security in that it costs time. Most people don't spend time on even having a conversation like this but if something bothers you then finding a spare day is easier.

[-] drmoose@lemmy.world 5 points 2 weeks ago

Nah you're just being lazy. Its really not that hard. At least be ashamed man instead of this defeatist bullshit.

[-] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 8 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

What you're saying makes me think you aren't aware of the technical knowledge of your typical smart doorbell or cam user, which is basically little to none.

this post was submitted on 20 Jul 2025
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