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Amazon Ring Cashes in on Techno-Authoritarianism and Mass Surveillance

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  • I want the Ubiquiti Doorbell Pro (wired Ethernet) but it's always sold out. Plus I've been hesitant to spend ion a Cloud Gateway or Dream Machine. I just wish I could use my own storage.

    I need to just bite the bullet though.

    The cloud gateway max lets you use your own storage without getting one of their giant NVRs. I got the wireless doorbell. Initially I kinda regretted not getting the wired one, but once I tuned my WiFi I haven’t had any issues. But definitely go wired if you can.

  • Never said it would protect your shit, just that it likely would be better in the long run for everyone involved. Its not an easy problem to solve but I dont think we need to treat people poorly because of it. I understand if its just not possible to assume the financial risk though.

    Never said it would protect your shit, just that it likely would be better in the long run for everyone involved. Its not an easy problem to solve but I dont think we need to treat people poorly because of it.

    Just because I don't trust those around me and use cameras doesn't mean I treat people poorly. I am very respectful to the people who live and work around me, but that doesn't mean I trust them not to take something that isn't theirs.

    Lack of trust does not equal disrespect, it just means I've seen the true side of a lot of people and don't wish to let them take advantage of the kind of naivety that you display here.

    I understand if its just not possible to assume the financial risk though

    It's not that I'm unable to assume the risk, I'm unwilling to be taken advantage of.

  • We had a burglary a couple of months ago, luckily we have an indoor camera which scared him away when he saw it and nothing was stolen. On the camera recording, we heard that he was ringing the doorbell for a couple of minutes to check if anyone is at home. We now have a camera doorbell (not Ring one though), if we had it then he would see it and avoided our house altogether.

    Yeah we have a camera pointed at our driveway from our garage door. It isn't close enough to the road to trigger movement from people walking or driving by.

    But if they come inside the fence it'll pick em up.

    Also have a couple of cameras watching other random parts of the yard. We live on just under 2 acres, and it's all enclosed in chain link fencing. Next to us is an automotive maintenance shop owned by a by here pay here lot a few miles closer to town, and they don't always hire the most trustworthy individuals to work on cars....

  • Why do people want to see who comes to the door?

    My brother installed one of these at his house and it makes me uncomfortable, but I know he probably feels safer and more in control by having it, and would value that over my comfort.

    Then I start to gaslight myself, "why am I uncomfortable with the surveillance apparatus getting regular identifiable videos of me at a known location"?

    This seems to be exclusively American thing. I presume it's a big safety issue there. Here in Thailand people rarely even lock their doors let alone care about something like video doorbells.

  • Never said it would protect your shit, just that it likely would be better in the long run for everyone involved. Its not an easy problem to solve but I dont think we need to treat people poorly because of it.

    Just because I don't trust those around me and use cameras doesn't mean I treat people poorly. I am very respectful to the people who live and work around me, but that doesn't mean I trust them not to take something that isn't theirs.

    Lack of trust does not equal disrespect, it just means I've seen the true side of a lot of people and don't wish to let them take advantage of the kind of naivety that you display here.

    I understand if its just not possible to assume the financial risk though

    It's not that I'm unable to assume the risk, I'm unwilling to be taken advantage of.

    Thats fair, I know my point of view is on the more extreme end.

  • Neighbors can be people you dont well, you should still trust them anyways, because you'd want them to treat you the same.

    If you have drug addicts regularly causing you problems, might do you some good to befriend them in some way or help them out, instead of secure your shit and avoid them more. They aren't any different than you are.

    If you're still talking about getting shit stolen off your porch, anyone within driving distance could be responsible for it.

    Do you really think it's possible to try to become friends with or "help out" every asshole within a 10 minute drive of where you live? Or even identify everyone in that range who might have sticky fingers?

  • If you're still talking about getting shit stolen off your porch, anyone within driving distance could be responsible for it.

    Do you really think it's possible to try to become friends with or "help out" every asshole within a 10 minute drive of where you live? Or even identify everyone in that range who might have sticky fingers?

    Not concerned about porch pirates at all, people shouldnt order stuff like this.

  • 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

    Yep still glad I've never trusted "smart-home" tech.

  • Why do people want to see who comes to the door?

    My brother installed one of these at his house and it makes me uncomfortable, but I know he probably feels safer and more in control by having it, and would value that over my comfort.

    Then I start to gaslight myself, "why am I uncomfortable with the surveillance apparatus getting regular identifiable videos of me at a known location"?

    Why would you not want to see who is at your door? Or know if there is a package there? Plenty of packages get stolen off of porches in my neighborhood

  • Not concerned about porch pirates at all, people shouldnt order stuff like this.

    Not concerned about porch pirates at all

    Not everyone has been blessed with the same gift of blissful ignorance that you have.

    I agree that people shouldn't order Ring, it's a shitty product for the reasons laid out in this thread and article. But "just be nicer to everyone around you" is not a viable alternative, and suggesting it is dismissive of the realities other people are living.

  • Yep still glad I've never trusted "smart-home" tech.

  • Your arguments are all valid and fine, wouldn't argue with them. BUT understanding the underlying reasons doesn't really change the fact and my point.

    I can empathise with speeders, murderers, scammers and whatever. But know why someone does something, or even truly empathizing with it, doesn't change the fact that it's bad.
    I could understand a society of murderers and their reasons for murdering. But they'd still destroy their society.

    And sadly I really see no way for the government (any gov anywhere) to really pull the rudder. Capitalism just won. And, as you already stated, their goals align excellently with the average Joe/Jane having no clue about the stuff that's thrown in their faces and are worked to death so that'll never change.

    Yes. 😄

    And in capitalism right now there's no obvious way to reverse the trend. That said, if the critical theory of capitalism (and history) holds any water, the victory is very likely to be temporary, followed by mass unrest and significant change. What kind of change is not so clear but we may have a say if we're educated enough and organized, so at least we know who to support when the time comes.

  • Why do people want to see who comes to the door?

    My brother installed one of these at his house and it makes me uncomfortable, but I know he probably feels safer and more in control by having it, and would value that over my comfort.

    Then I start to gaslight myself, "why am I uncomfortable with the surveillance apparatus getting regular identifiable videos of me at a known location"?

    FedEx drivers routinely lie about folks not being home to accept delivery, but in reality they never even go up to the door to ring the doorbell or knock on the bell. Having evidence that the driver never showed up can help dealing with FedEx to get a package that they repeatedly fail to deliver.

    That's about it though, I don't actually have a doorbell camera at the moment (I did, but it died, and I haven't bothered to replace it), and I really resent the mass adoption of surveillance cameras pointed out at public roads and sidewalks, especially Ring cameras which have been repeatedly shown to be readily available to law enforcement.

  • Yes. 😄

    And in capitalism right now there's no obvious way to reverse the trend. That said, if the critical theory of capitalism (and history) holds any water, the victory is very likely to be temporary, followed by mass unrest and significant change. What kind of change is not so clear but we may have a say if we're educated enough and organized, so at least we know who to support when the time comes.

    Not today anymore. Social-media and the state-of-stupid of the web inhibit that. The masses don't even know what to protest for or against. And without MASSIVE numbers you'd achieve nothing. Someone just needs to throw enough moneyz at the problem (or pay thousands to flood the net with "I love our overlords because XYZ") until it's gone.

    It was hard to topple a king some 100yrs ago, but today? We don't even know our kings anymore. Besides those few media-clown-babies that so desperately crave attention to fill a bottomless void of darkness inside them.

  • Not today anymore. Social-media and the state-of-stupid of the web inhibit that. The masses don't even know what to protest for or against. And without MASSIVE numbers you'd achieve nothing. Someone just needs to throw enough moneyz at the problem (or pay thousands to flood the net with "I love our overlords because XYZ") until it's gone.

    It was hard to topple a king some 100yrs ago, but today? We don't even know our kings anymore. Besides those few media-clown-babies that so desperately crave attention to fill a bottomless void of darkness inside them.

    Yeah we're definitely playing on hardcore mode. There are some reasons for optimism though. A lot of people who wouldn't think about these things a few years ago are talking about class. I'm talking regular peope I know. These issues were just not on our horizon until recently. They see things very differently than they used to. That's the hopium I'm huffing. 😄

  • Not concerned about porch pirates at all

    Not everyone has been blessed with the same gift of blissful ignorance that you have.

    I agree that people shouldn't order Ring, it's a shitty product for the reasons laid out in this thread and article. But "just be nicer to everyone around you" is not a viable alternative, and suggesting it is dismissive of the realities other people are living.

    I dont order anything, so I dont worry about porch pirates, has nothing to do with "blessings" whatever that refers to.

    I dont like walking down the sidewalk and realizing I'm being filmed from someone's doorstep, its unnecessary and invasive. I dont want people around me to feel like that, and all I would get by having cameras is the opportunity to prosecute someone from my community for a petty crime. Not interested in any of that.

  • This is the way.

  • Why do people want to see who comes to the door?

    My brother installed one of these at his house and it makes me uncomfortable, but I know he probably feels safer and more in control by having it, and would value that over my comfort.

    Then I start to gaslight myself, "why am I uncomfortable with the surveillance apparatus getting regular identifiable videos of me at a known location"?

    I mean I do, but I just use the peep hole like a normal person's

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    Trying to get my peers to care about their own privacy is exhausting. I wish their choices don't effect me, but like this article states.. They do in the long run. I will remain stubborn and only compromise rather than give in.
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    Not being a coward.
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    "Extra Verification steps" I know how large social media companies operate. This is all about increasing the value of Reddit users to advertisers. The goal is to have a more accurate user database to sell them. Zuckerberg literally brags to corporations about how good their data is on users: https://www.facebook.com/business/ads/performance-marketing Here, Zuckerberg tells corporations that Instagram can easily manipulate users into purchasing shit: https://www.facebook.com/business/instagram/instagram-reels Always be wary of anything available for free. There are some quality exceptions (CBC, VLC, The Guardian, Linux, PBS, Wikipedia, Lemmy, ProPublica) but, by and large, "free" means they don't care about you. You are just a commodity that they sell. Facebook, Google, X, Reddit, Instagram... Their goal is keep people hooked to their smartphone by giving them regular small dopamine hits (likes, upvotes) followed by a small breaks with outrageous content/emotional content. Keep them hooked, gather their data, and sell them ads. The people who know that best are former top executives : https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/oct/05/smartphone-addiction-silicon-valley-dystopia https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/01/business/addictive-technology.html https://www.today.com/parents/teens/facebook-whistleblower-frances-haugen-rcna15256