this post was submitted on 12 Feb 2026
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Why are people disconnecting or destroying their Ring cameras? (www.usatoday.com)
submitted 1 day ago by spaghettiwestern@sh.itjust.works to c/technology@lemmy.world
210 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

A Super Bowl ad for Ring security cameras boasting how the company can scan neighborhoods for missing dogs has prompted some customers to remove or even destroy their cameras.

Online, videos of people removing or destroying their Ring cameras have gone viral. One video posted by Seattle-based artist Maggie Butler shows her pulling off her porch-facing camera and flipping it the middle finger.

Butler explained that she originally bought the camera to protect against package thefts, but decided the pet-tracking system raised too many concerns about government access to data.

"They aren't just tracking lost dogs, they're tracking you and your neighbors," Butler said in the video that has more than 3.2 million views.

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[–] spaghettiwestern@sh.itjust.works 8 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

Not always the case. Some cameras require a proprietary app for set up but can then be set to stream to a local server. Internet access can then be completely blocked with router settings.

[–] scrion@lemmy.world 15 points 22 hours ago (3 children)

Still, would you really want that? A half-baked device in your network, a device you suspect would constantly betray you, if given the chance?

I personally can't imagine getting used to that. I'd despise the device (and myself probably).

[–] Linktank@lemmy.today 3 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

So, what security cameras would you use or are you just back seat driving without a good suggestion?

[–] scrion@lemmy.world 1 points 14 hours ago

The latest Raspberry Pi cameras have decent sensors, variants with night vision are available. Axis makes reliable, network attached cameras.

Open-source software like Frigate or ZoneMinder exists.

https://github.com/blakeblackshear/frigate

https://github.com/ZoneMinder/zoneminder

[–] village604@adultswim.fan 2 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

It's pretty trivial to block devices from accessing the Internet.

[–] W98BSoD@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

For those that know what they’re doing, and those that know what they’re doing don’t buy ring to begin with.

[–] assa123@lemmy.world 3 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago)

some of those that know what they're doing, do it through pihole. But a DNS sink is really not enough. Even blacklisting the MAC might not be enough. If it requires a key from a server it might even be necessary to hack the device if it's not a SoC and you can't defile or use M-x Butterflies

[–] spaghettiwestern@sh.itjust.works 0 points 22 hours ago

I have absolutely no problem using these kinds of devices.

I have an old phone and a generic Play account that I used for setup so the companies have nothing of consequence but my public IP address. Setup takes less than 15 minutes and after that all Internet access is completely blocked just like it would be if I unplugged my cable modem. There is no way for the cameras to override my router settings.

My smart TV is much more of a concern.