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Comment by altacc | Hacker News Reader

My reluctance in having an internet connected camera in my house 24/7 is why I bought a LIDAR vacuum. For similar reasons I had the security cameras removed from the house when I bought it. I've worked in IT long enough to know not to trust either the code or humans involved.

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How does the saying go? Tech enthusiasts get smart/connected everything; tech professionals keep a gun next to the printer in case it makes any funny noises?

Well, all dot matrix printers make funny noises sooner or later so the gun is clearly justified.

I can't keep a gun anywhere near my printer, because the printer enrages me enough on a regular basis that it'd probably shoot it anyway.

My old dumb roomba with naught but bumpers, ultrasonic and IR sensors works just fine. It's my understanding that it doesn't map/remember room layouts at all, it seems to rely on stochastic bumping around rooms for an hour. When I want it to run in another room, I pick it up and carry it there. I don't understand why robot vacuums need more advanced sensors, let alone internet connection.

For the same reason cheap “smart” TVs do

I find it fascinating people are so concerned about cameras. I am much more concerned about microphones. And I’ll betcha you’re typing on something with an always on microphone right now.

First it’s about what’s easily controllable. Second it’s about threat impact of the release of any media taken from my house. I am very boring and so audio of me asking my wife what she wants for dinner for the 15,000th time wouldn’t cause any reputational damage compared to having naked photos of us shared on Facebook.

I guess it depends. I am alone and almost never say anything, but I'm almost always wearing only underpants 23/7. Perhaps for other people, home conversations are more sensitive and they dress sensibly inside the house.

Have you never read a credit card out over the phone? Your social security number or other sensitive identification? Discussed private medical information with a provider? I think people overestimate how boring their conversations are. It’s not about blackmail usually, although that’s what folks care about for video. But would you really be blackmailed by a picture of you on the toilet? I might be mildly embarrassed but I won’t go very far to prevent it from being published. But I talk about sensitive stuff quite often on the phone, or when I work from home.

No, I really don't do any of those things. Everything is online these days, which is a different attack surface. I also don't think that my iPhone is listening to me, for advertising or blackmail purposes.

Because having a picture of you using the toilet shared online is far worse than the audio of the sound you made during that bathroom trip.

I’m more worried about the details of my credit card. Personally I’d be willing to sell a video feed with audio of my using the bathroom for extra cash if there’s a big market for it. But I know some people are embarrassed someone might learn they have bodily functions.

There is no microphone at all attached to my computer...

ya for sure. but also imagine what a vacuum can learn about you from what it finds on your floors.

A security camera based on motion sensors that does not have access to the internet would be a good product or DIY project.

Its fairly easy to do if you have VLANs or can put them on their own network.

You mean by isolating the cameras into a network that doesn't have internet?

That might work, but might also be circumvented at some point. I.e Amazon security cameras can use the neighbors cameras network to phone home.

Yeah, definitely don't buy cameras with those features as a possibility if you don't personally desire it. Getting regular onvif cameras is pretty easy if that's what you desire.

Restrict them from internet access and you don't have to worry about firmware updates too.

But people want to be able to see what's going on at home while they're away, either at work or on vacation. That's the use case these cameras were invented for.

That is not the only use case. Another important use case is to see who broke into your home so that the police can find them.

Except that in 2023 the police won't even try to look for them. Maybe if you can provide their real address they will consider perhaps doing something about it.

Do actual photos or video footage not help solving burglaries? I have tried looking for statistics on this. The Pew Research Center[1] wrote this in 2020:

  When it comes to property crime, law enforcement agencies cleared 18.4% of larcenies/thefts, 14.1% of burglaries and 13.8% of motor vehicle thefts.

14.1% is very low. But this figure is not broken down by the type of evidence available to the police. Can a large part of the 14.1% be cases where recordings from security cameras were available?

[1] https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/11/20/facts-about...

Usually you have to go to the address and be murdered before the police would fall up on the address.

My wife and I have cameras in our home for this purpose. They're unplugged until we leave for vacation, and once we get back they're unplugged again.

The implementation wasn't great but SimpliSafe used to have these cameras with an automatic reflective (so you could see it) shutter on them; it was a good concept and I went with it because of that.

This is what security systems used to be and they’re still available. People like the idea of being able to see into their houses themselves but don’t like the idea of anyone else being able to see into their houses. The very small likelihood of the latter is enough to dissuade me from the former.

isn't this more/less the definition of CCTV? which is still very much a thing.

Inviting indoor-facing cameras is a disaster waiting to happen. There is a reason why Zuckerberg tapes over his laptop and why the Pelosi family only have exterior security cameras

I’d rather hear what zuck is saying than watch him pick his nose. Bet he doesn’t tape his microphone, and even if he did it wouldn’t help.

He does tape his microphone, even though it doesn’t help

Source: https://www.hackread.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Mark-Zuc...

Neither does taping the webcam because the mac has that thing wired in serial to the led. I wonder what other security measures he accepts without thinking critically about them?

> mac has that thing wired in serial to the led.

That doesn't stop the camera from working, it only notifies you. And it only notifies you if you're paying attention to your computer.

So yes, taping your webcam does work.

Given he doesn’t know how sound works it’s unsurprising he’s so intent on the metaverse.

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