Looking for some perspective on this, interested how y’all think about it and if I’m isolated in my concerns.

I’ve grown to be a bit anxious when I’m out and about in any neighborhood. The wide use of doorbell cameras that connect to the internet and save data on company servers, listen in to your conversations, and could be used for spying on you as an individual gives me a sinking feeling.

I like walking around, I walk my dogs around the neighborhood and I know my neighbors. I’ve started being so aware that it’s changing my habits. I don’t turn my face towards houses while I’m walking if I notice a doorbell camera, and I’ve put my shirt over my face when dropping off something to a neighbor who has one. I probably gave them a fright but I don’t feel like I should’ve expected to be OK with you surviving me in a way that compromises my privacy that expansively. I’m considering keeping a bandana with me to cover my face if I need to go up to a door, but of course that would make people think I’m a bad actor and just a paranoid privacy nut.

I feel a bit like Winston in the 1984 novel, always feeling watched and trying to find an isolated corner where I can’t be seen. How have y’all been feeling on this? Would love to get perspective, thanks

  • WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    15 hours ago

    Your neighbors might know you are around, their doorbell cameras might have footage of you doing so… and what?

    its not about the neighbors knowing this or that, but the cloud processing systems of these devices.

    • utopiah@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      14 hours ago

      See my earlier answers. I’m not justifying any of that infrastructure or behavior, only trying to highlight that this information, namely that OP is walking around the neighborhood, where and when, is already available to numerous of the actors including :

      • neighbors, just visually seeing him with their eyes
      • mobile operator via their 5G/4G towers
      • mobile OS via their positioning data
      • WiFi hotspots
      • ISP via WiFi hotspots
      • any app with geolocation tracking and any of their commercial partners purchasing that information
      • connected devices via BT scanning potentially sending back data to their manufacturer, assuming most are connected
      • governments with abilities to get information from ISP, mobile operators, mobile OS maintainers

      So… the question IMHO is : is there are NEW data with or without the camera network? I’d argue marginally more.

      • WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        11 hours ago

        neighbors, just visually seeing him with their eyes

        sane neighbors won’t take notes if you, they won’t build a profile of you that can meaningfully be used for nefarious purposes.

        mobile operator via their 5G/4G towers

        5G, yes, but how accurate is 4G for that purpose? 4G transmitters are not placed as densely as 5G, and the frequency range it uses also makes it less suitable for that, as I know.

        for that you can limit your phone to 4G, it may even save you power. and you always have the choice to put your phone to airplane mode. if you find it useful and you are a little determined, you could even automate it with tasker.

        mobile OS via their positioning data

        you can choose a mobile OS that doesn’t do that. for now…

        • WiFi hotspots

        • ISP via WiFi hotspots

        you mean by your MAC address, when your phone is scanning? better android roms randomize that too, maybe some phones do that on stock OS too.

        any app with geolocation tracking and any of their commercial partners purchasing that information

        you can win a lot by not installing any app a shop wants you to have. they are taking advantage of the gullibility of the average person. lots of those bait apps are just a website anyway, and if you use them in a browser, they have access ro much fewer things.

        but you are talking about apps with location tracking. which ones you mean? I only allow that permission for apps that I trust. on modern android, you can can give only approximate location, which is somewhat better.

        connected devices via BT scanning potentially sending back data to their manufacturer, assuming most are connected

        I don’t get this one. your devices, or those of others? BLE 5 has MAC address randomization

        governments with abilities to get information from ISP, mobile operators, mobile OS maintainers

        the government can barge in my door. does that mean I shouldn’t keep data brokers out of my life? to me it doesn’t. I think we already tackled network operators and OS maintainers too.

        So… the question IMHO is : is there are NEW data with or without the camera network? I’d argue marginally more.

        yes, there is, I think

        • utopiah@lemmy.ml
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          8 hours ago

          To clarify I listed here behaviors that I believe is common. I’m NOT listing behaviors that somebody privacy conscious is. That same person could around the neighborhood with a hoodie, glasses, hygiene mask just the same way.

          What I was trying to highlight wasn’t extreme behavior, one way or another, but rather typical ones.

        • utopiah@lemmy.ml
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          8 hours ago

          Yes, I didn’t say this was OK. What I’m saying rather is trying to highlight the lack of novelty.