11 ms·

I already monitor methane, humidity, and CO2 levels in the bathroom and log them, this looks like a great addition to my system. No doubt as always I'll be accu

I already monitor methane, humidity, and CO2 levels in the bathroom and log them, this looks like a great addition to my system. No doubt as always I'll be accused of criminal behavior at this point, especially with the whole "camera in the bathroom where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy" legal issue. I contend that is not an issue for "safety" monitoring such as gas levels. If I do implement an AI toilet cam, be assured it will point downwards not upwards. I agree an upwards pointing camera would be an extreme and egregious violation of privacy and rightly should be illegal and prosecutable. I contend though that photographing waste materials after they are disposed of is legal without consent or notification. And the company manufacturing the toilet cam product OP linked to obviously agrees completely with me and has a team of lawyers backing it up otherwise they wouldn't have spent a fortune developing this commercial toilet cam. (They say they are not commercializing the prototype in its current state, but they indicate the tech will be incorporated into future commercial products.) Also worth noting that my system and this system do not identify people using the toilet, unlike the legal and commercial "Therapy Bidet" which connects to the toilet user's Bluetooth to provide control at which point it obtains personally identifiable information. Amazing that that one is considered legal.

Y_Y 7y ago
I think if you can monitor your gas levels with a regular camera then those levels are much much too high.
- droithomme 7y ago
  Why would you say something like that? Gas levels are monitored using gas sensors and an R-Pi custom monitoring station. There's no camera. I pointed this out. Reasonable expectations of privacy prohibit cameras in the bathroom. I contend though they don't prohibit diagnostic fecal cameras. Up cameras bad, down cameras not only good, but excellent and helpful. Safety gas sensors and logging are not illegal under any interpretation of privacy laws. I have every right to monitor dangerous gas levels, humidity and temperature in every room of my house without obtaining consent or notifying any visitor. The people here that have in the past claimed I am a criminal for doing monitoring have yet to make their legal case or as I have asked them to, to file a criminal complaint against me and my system. This is because they are armchair lawyers who have no case and little understanding of the law. They just like to badger innocent people who are not committing any crimes on the internet because that's what these sorts of armchair lawyers and busybodies do.
  - ceejayoz 7y ago
    I think you missed the joke.
  - retrac 7y ago
    Running with the argument for a bit, I'd point out that such analysis reveals considerable biomedical data. Along with timing data on who uses the restroom, invasion of medical privacy would not be very hard.
    - droithomme 7y ago
      An old friend and myself have had some extremely heated debates about whether the genomic sequence data his company collects from people and sells to everyone is biomedical data. I say that it is and is covered under HIPAA. He claims that is absurd and unreasonable and that genome sequences are simply not personal private medical data regulated under HIPAA. Many others in these debates have also disagreed with me and rebuked me claiming that even complete genomic data is not covered under HIPAA and is simply not personal medical information. I don't recall ever having a single supporter in my claim that a person's genome is private medical data. Yet perhaps some of these happy to hate on me in the past and denounce my unreasonable opinion that genomes are medical data would now criticize me for monitoring conditions and levels of gases in my own private home as well as that of waste disposed of. Courts have repeatedly ruled that in disposing of cellular materials such as blood and sperm one gives up any rights to privacy. These materials can be collected from trash without a warrant. The reasonable expectation of privacy simply does not apply to things one has thrown away.
      - retrac 7y ago
        > I don't recall ever having a single supporter in my claim that a person's genome is private medical data. Huh. In Canada, that's a settled question. It is, at least with regard to e.g. a medical record that contains genetic information. We're also looking at laws which prohibit discrimination on the basis of genetic information. Though more directly to what you're talking about, I think it is in fact legal for a private citizen to collect discarded biological material from a person and sequence it. A company would be prohibited, however. I am not a lawyer, though. > The reasonable expectation of privacy simply does not apply to things one has thrown away. That can be fixed by statute. While the law is similar here in that items discarded are no longer protected by the constitution regarding search and seizure, statute prohibits a company, for example, from collecting banking information from discarded paperwork in the recycling.

Y_Y 7y ago

I think if you can monitor your gas levels with a regular camera then those levels are much much too high.

droithomme 7y ago
Why would you say something like that? Gas levels are monitored using gas sensors and an R-Pi custom monitoring station. There's no camera. I pointed this out. Reasonable expectations of privacy prohibit cameras in the bathroom. I contend though they don't prohibit diagnostic fecal cameras. Up cameras bad, down cameras not only good, but excellent and helpful. Safety gas sensors and logging are not illegal under any interpretation of privacy laws. I have every right to monitor dangerous gas levels, humidity and temperature in every room of my house without obtaining consent or notifying any visitor. The people here that have in the past claimed I am a criminal for doing monitoring have yet to make their legal case or as I have asked them to, to file a criminal complaint against me and my system. This is because they are armchair lawyers who have no case and little understanding of the law. They just like to badger innocent people who are not committing any crimes on the internet because that's what these sorts of armchair lawyers and busybodies do.
- ceejayoz 7y ago
  I think you missed the joke.
- retrac 7y ago
  Running with the argument for a bit, I'd point out that such analysis reveals considerable biomedical data. Along with timing data on who uses the restroom, invasion of medical privacy would not be very hard.
  - droithomme 7y ago
    An old friend and myself have had some extremely heated debates about whether the genomic sequence data his company collects from people and sells to everyone is biomedical data. I say that it is and is covered under HIPAA. He claims that is absurd and unreasonable and that genome sequences are simply not personal private medical data regulated under HIPAA. Many others in these debates have also disagreed with me and rebuked me claiming that even complete genomic data is not covered under HIPAA and is simply not personal medical information. I don't recall ever having a single supporter in my claim that a person's genome is private medical data. Yet perhaps some of these happy to hate on me in the past and denounce my unreasonable opinion that genomes are medical data would now criticize me for monitoring conditions and levels of gases in my own private home as well as that of waste disposed of. Courts have repeatedly ruled that in disposing of cellular materials such as blood and sperm one gives up any rights to privacy. These materials can be collected from trash without a warrant. The reasonable expectation of privacy simply does not apply to things one has thrown away.
    - retrac 7y ago
      > I don't recall ever having a single supporter in my claim that a person's genome is private medical data. Huh. In Canada, that's a settled question. It is, at least with regard to e.g. a medical record that contains genetic information. We're also looking at laws which prohibit discrimination on the basis of genetic information. Though more directly to what you're talking about, I think it is in fact legal for a private citizen to collect discarded biological material from a person and sequence it. A company would be prohibited, however. I am not a lawyer, though. > The reasonable expectation of privacy simply does not apply to things one has thrown away. That can be fixed by statute. While the law is similar here in that items discarded are no longer protected by the constitution regarding search and seizure, statute prohibits a company, for example, from collecting banking information from discarded paperwork in the recycling.