Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.
In this community everyone is welcome to post links and discuss topics related to privacy.
much thanks to @gary_host_laptop for the logo design :)
I moved into a place with a Ring doorbell.
I bought myself a Reolink doorbell and swapped them out. Reolink doorbells can be configured to be local storage only with no callhome, and they support RTSP. You can essentially configure them to precisely the privacy model you use — I even have mine set up to black out the parts of the screen that show my neighbors’ property, so it’s not available in recordings or the streaming video.
All the benefits of a Ring without the privacy invasion.
Is this a troll post?
-OP doesn't specify model
-if you are even considering flashing it that means you can remove and modify it
-change Wi-Fi password and don't reconnect it
-smash it and install a normal doorbell or something else that isn't spyware
What am I even reading here
Idk the model but can check later. Removing/modifying it isn't an issue, but my household wants to use it since it's there.
I'm not personally opposed to a camera but would need to be in full control of the feed. My main goal is keeping it simple and cheap for now, so not replacing a functional camera is very tempting. Later on I can look into real alternatives but an afternoon project will do for now.
I was in this situation with family. I ended up doing the expensive-ish option and setting up some cameras through the roof and replacing the front ring doorbell with a reolink doorbell camera.
Idiots use these doorbell cameras. Soon I'm going to just have a regular doorbell and an actual good camera on the front porch ceiling.
I suggest Reolink local only, sd card, and if you can have a small Frigate or something server so they can access at least the video. I only suggest reolink because that's what I've only ever used.
There's no reason to try and salvage a ring camera. Their business model is subscriptions and data collection; I'm not aware of any projects to flash them with custom firmware, and my guess is they're locked down hard to prevent it because that's their entire revenue model, you're free to keep looking but I'd bet it's a dead end or at the very least much more than an afternoon project.
Get a Wi-Fi reolink and connect it to an ONVIF capable NVR. You can use a paid solution like blue iris on a Windows machine or there's plenty of free options for any OS of your choice. You can probably directly access the feed by navigating to the camera IP but I'm not sure, I don't use mine that way. Without some kind of NVR software you won't get a lot of the features people like such as notifications and two way talk, object/person recognition, etc.
I don't know that there are any options. You should know that these cameras are creating an insanely powerful surveillance network. The cops have access to them. And now they're partnering with Flock to add 80k more cameras to their surveillance network. They're not just a danger to you, but everyone around you.
Perhaps you could put it on a separate WiFi network and have your router limit what IP range it can access on your Internet connected network (leave the gateway to the Internet off that range).
"Yeah not sure why it's not showing up, it looks like it's connect to my wifi"
PBR with openwrt, then don't give the ring's fw zone access to jack except for their ping service, or whatever it needs to show online without video. Or just block it entirely.
TBF, if you're not running FOSS at the edge of your network you have don't have the full view what's going on anyway.
edit: wrote this when drunk, edited it the next morning
You could always carry some lumber in through the front door and accidentally destroy it...
Curious for the reason why you can't get rid of it? Renting?
Seems like the most obvious reason.
Being obvious doesn't mean it's true, especially on the internet with so little detail given.
If you look at the edit to the post, that is not the reason, so I'm glad that I asked and didn't just assume.
Two simple options:
the choice is yours, ring doorbell or privacy
You can definitely remove them. Or the battery. Or a small piece of electrical tape (which you should have) is free.
If it's a Ring Doorbell camera, I think they just unclip from the wall. If you don't have the special tool, a flat bladed screwdriver will suffice. Gently press it into the slot on the bottom and gently pull up and viola! Then set it somewhere like in a closet under a pile of clothes and wait until the battery discharges.
Faraday cage?
Wouldn't be operable, but I like your moxy lol
Ah, I thought operation didn't matter, my bad