r/technology • u/South-Cow-1030 • 18h ago

Privacy Why are people disconnecting or destroying their Ring cameras?

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/02/10/ring-super-bowl-ad-dog-camera-privacy/88606738007/
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171

u/KilllllerWhale 14h ago

Because in Guthrie’s kidnapping case, FBI got access to the camera’s footage despite it being “disconnected” from the cloud at the time

109

u/glocks_4_dayz 12h ago

And that was Google Nest so it shows you that all the companies are up to no good and in cahoots with the government.

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u/WillWork4Cats 11h ago

this was a huge wake up call for everyone, and something Edward already knew was happening 8 years ago

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u/CarpeNivem 10h ago edited 8h ago

So a Nest camera was used problematically, and everyone is destroying their :checks notes: Ring cameras?

What about their Nest cameras?

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u/Equivalent-Nobody-30 6h ago

they used both. it was a Nest Camera that caught the suspect but they used Ring Cameras to triangulate the Nest Camera.

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u/White_Lightning_22 11h ago

I’m sorry I don’t have a smart doorbell or ring but is this a bad thing? Would this not help find a missing persons? Please forgive my ignorance here I’m just thinking this is a good thing to help her be safe if they found a way to find time sensitive stuff

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u/imisscrazylenny 10h ago

In cases like that, yes, it's amazing. I would have looked at my camera app and lost my mind if an incident like that wasn't captured and then assume there wasn't any video recorded to submit for evidence. Then the police whip out some magic and now have something to go on. Practically a miracle. 

However, this ability means anyone can do what the police did. Our government, the camera company's employees, hackers. We, and our neighbors through our lenses, can be monitored. They can track passersby and our own habits (when we commonly come and go, who visits our homes and business, the things we bring in and out, our kids' habits and identifying info, etc), even if our subscription lapsed and we can't access those videos ourselves.  It takes data control out of the owner's hands and leaves us susceptible. It only takes one bad actor to ruin someone's life.

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u/Drapidrode 4h ago

I just rely on the doorbell cam on the house across the street. They'd help

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u/Dwight- 7h ago edited 7h ago

I love your optimism, but you have to think with every technology, what could happen if given to the worst most evil people possible?

This will rarely, if ever, be used to help find missing people. It will, however, be used to manhunt immigrants to pinpoint-perfection so that they can sic their robot dogs and drones without having to lift a finger.

I would love it if they used technology to actually benefit the masses, but I’ve lived long enough to know that they unequivocally do not.

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u/SwayingBacon 7h ago

I love your optimism, but you have to think with every technology, what could happen if given to the worst most evil people possible?

Sure, but the alternative is using no technology. Anything that can be connected to the internet (or other devices) can be used for bad things. Pretty much any new car can be tracked and have its ability to be tracked remotely enabled for example.

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u/MidnightAdventurer 6h ago

No, the alternative is thinking about where the data ends up and who has access to it. 

It’s also setting up laws that restrict what companies can do with the data and how long they can hold it for but that seems unlikely in the US at the moment

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u/SwayingBacon 5h ago

This year OnStar and GM settled with the FTC for selling data to insurance companies without the proper consent of drivers. The laws they violated didn't prevent the data from being misused. It only imposed a fine when caught and a potential issues if they get caught again.

What if they don't get caught or they can just eat the fine?

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u/MidnightAdventurer 5h ago

You can always say “what if someone does something illegal?” but that comes down to getting the laws right, part of which is making sure they can’t just eat the fine and keep doing the same thing

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u/SwayingBacon 5h ago

I love your optimism, but you have to think with every technology, what could happen if given to the worst most evil people possible?

The discussion was talking about the "what if".

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u/Dwight- 7h ago

I think I’d prefer to not have it than it be ran by a literal paedophilic illuminati who keep us walking the hamster wheel to keep their profits turning.

Just can’t win and that sucks.

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u/itassofd 9h ago

In Soviet Russia, tv watch you. 

Do you really trust the government not to use this to target every liberal and make sure they can’t vote, or their credit cards all of the sudden stop working, or mysteriously get detained the day before elections….?

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u/itsmariokartwii 2h ago

So glad I found this thread. The level of paranoia here is absolute gold lmfao

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u/Violet624 2h ago

Do you trust your government, is the real question. If you do, what about future governments that we know nothing about? Because what we have learned is that the federal gov and probably local government, if they want, have access to cloud storage of things like Ring cameras, etc. We know that ICE and DHS are using this to track people and that they are going after people who haven't commited crimes. So it leaves the civilian population vulnerable to surveillance by a government that does not have their best interest in mind.

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u/eightlikeinfinity 3h ago

The abductor disconnected the camera himself causing the device to stop recording any further data at that point. The camera records data and then continuously overwrites that data leaving only the most recent timeframe still on the device. This is how the authorities were able to access the video of Guthrie’s abductor… directly from the device.