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Crap. I guess I won't be buying one then. Amazon also just gobbled up the maker of my home security cameras (Blink). I really would prefer my home monitoring

Crap. I guess I won't be buying one then. Amazon also just gobbled up the maker of my home security cameras (Blink). I really would prefer my home monitoring devices to be separate from the giant tech companies that I'm trusting less and less.

ronaru 9y ago
the main reason I bought Ring (avoided upcoming nest hello), now I am SOL. Should look closer at their privacy agreements. With Amazon a the helm, they can mine data much more effectively.
drawkbox 9y ago
Amazon is typically a good steward in their acquisitions though. Twitch.tv, Zappos, imdb, audible as some examples of how they really do keep these purchases as pretty close to the original/successful idea of the company and sometimes even better. I'd say Amazon are maybe the best at not destroying what they buy. Amazon usually buys because the company is a success and not just for tech or to shut down / acquihire etc.
- Slansitartop 9y ago
  That's comforting from one angle, but I'm still concerned about the privacy implications. I feel like a giant megacorp like Amazon is in a much better position to both mine the data and also be more resistant to criticism.
  - drawkbox 9y ago
    True but as Ring progressed and the metrics guys come in, they would have been selling that data anyways. At least now you know what it will be used for, Amazon home delivery systems and to sell you products on Amazon. Amazon is in that stage of power where they are still beneficial and innovating, kinda like Microsoft with the desktop/internet in the 90s and AT&T with their labs that made C++ and the modern application/software in the 80s, even Apple in the 00s with the smart phone and their power. I think when Amazon stops innovating or get to the state where they aren't fully research and development focused, that is where you have to worry when revenues get tight and they have to start selling your private data. Right now ONLY Amazon wants that from this acquisition, they don't want anyone else to have it, Ring probably would have had to let others have it earlier.
jd20 9y ago
You could always invest in IP cameras, and manage where the data goes yourself. No reason a 24/7 video stream of your home needs to be sent to a big tech company's data centers, anyway, or any data center for that matter.
- Mister_Snuggles 9y ago
  This is the approach I take. It’s not for everyone, but it can range from simple to complex depending on what you want to do. I have a variety of WiFi cameras, all of which are on a dedicated WiFi network that cannot access the internet. I use Zoneminder to handle the recording, motion detection, etc. Zoneminder is pretty versatile, but it’s ultimately up to the camera to provide a compatible method of access - RTSP works well for cameras that support it, but if you have a URL on the camera that will return a JPEG that will work too. Most of my cameras are low-end D-Link models, they work fine with Zoneminder. I recently got an Amcrest camera which, after some cajoling, works very well with Zoneminder. Using a JPEG URL that Zoneminder polls never worked for some reason, but RTSP worked perfectly. If you want to go this route, look for evidence that other people have gotten the model you’re interested in to work with software like Zoneminder, Blue Iris, or iSpy. Generally this means that the camera supports open standards that you can use in your system. If you don’t want to go the Zoneminder route, some cameras can do a lot of the work internally. All of my cameras, for example, have some degree of motion detection and the ability to upload files to an FTP server or send an email. The biggest challenge here is that none of these cameras can be configured to do this without either a Java Applet or a vendor-provided browser plugin to view the live video and define the detection zones and parameters.
  - cloakandswagger 9y ago
    >I have a variety of WiFi cameras, all of which are on a dedicated WiFi network that cannot access the internet. > All of my cameras, for example, have some degree of motion detection and the ability to upload files to an FTP server or send an email. Am I missing something?
    - Mister_Snuggles 9y ago
LeoPanthera 9y ago
I'm using UniFi Video cameras. The server is in my house. No cloud necessary.

ronaru 9y ago

the main reason I bought Ring (avoided upcoming nest hello), now I am SOL. Should look closer at their privacy agreements. With Amazon a the helm, they can mine data much more effectively.

drawkbox 9y ago

Amazon is typically a good steward in their acquisitions though. Twitch.tv, Zappos, imdb, audible as some examples of how they really do keep these purchases as pretty close to the original/successful idea of the company and sometimes even better. I'd say Amazon are maybe the best at not destroying what they buy. Amazon usually buys because the company is a success and not just for tech or to shut down / acquihire etc.

Slansitartop 9y ago
That's comforting from one angle, but I'm still concerned about the privacy implications. I feel like a giant megacorp like Amazon is in a much better position to both mine the data and also be more resistant to criticism.
- drawkbox 9y ago
  True but as Ring progressed and the metrics guys come in, they would have been selling that data anyways. At least now you know what it will be used for, Amazon home delivery systems and to sell you products on Amazon. Amazon is in that stage of power where they are still beneficial and innovating, kinda like Microsoft with the desktop/internet in the 90s and AT&T with their labs that made C++ and the modern application/software in the 80s, even Apple in the 00s with the smart phone and their power. I think when Amazon stops innovating or get to the state where they aren't fully research and development focused, that is where you have to worry when revenues get tight and they have to start selling your private data. Right now ONLY Amazon wants that from this acquisition, they don't want anyone else to have it, Ring probably would have had to let others have it earlier.

jd20 9y ago

You could always invest in IP cameras, and manage where the data goes yourself. No reason a 24/7 video stream of your home needs to be sent to a big tech company's data centers, anyway, or any data center for that matter.

Mister_Snuggles 9y ago
This is the approach I take. It’s not for everyone, but it can range from simple to complex depending on what you want to do. I have a variety of WiFi cameras, all of which are on a dedicated WiFi network that cannot access the internet. I use Zoneminder to handle the recording, motion detection, etc. Zoneminder is pretty versatile, but it’s ultimately up to the camera to provide a compatible method of access - RTSP works well for cameras that support it, but if you have a URL on the camera that will return a JPEG that will work too. Most of my cameras are low-end D-Link models, they work fine with Zoneminder. I recently got an Amcrest camera which, after some cajoling, works very well with Zoneminder. Using a JPEG URL that Zoneminder polls never worked for some reason, but RTSP worked perfectly. If you want to go this route, look for evidence that other people have gotten the model you’re interested in to work with software like Zoneminder, Blue Iris, or iSpy. Generally this means that the camera supports open standards that you can use in your system. If you don’t want to go the Zoneminder route, some cameras can do a lot of the work internally. All of my cameras, for example, have some degree of motion detection and the ability to upload files to an FTP server or send an email. The biggest challenge here is that none of these cameras can be configured to do this without either a Java Applet or a vendor-provided browser plugin to view the live video and define the detection zones and parameters.
- cloakandswagger 9y ago
  >I have a variety of WiFi cameras, all of which are on a dedicated WiFi network that cannot access the internet. > All of my cameras, for example, have some degree of motion detection and the ability to upload files to an FTP server or send an email. Am I missing something?
  - Mister_Snuggles 9y ago

LeoPanthera 9y ago

I'm using UniFi Video cameras. The server is in my house. No cloud necessary.