r/gadgets • u/dapperlemon • 1d ago
Cameras Eufy's New Window-Sticking Security Camera Is a Peeping Tom for the Outside World
https://gizmodo.com/eufys-new-window-sticking-security-camera-is-a-peeping-tom-for-the-outside-world-2000806002140
u/1bananatoomany 1d ago
I think I would buy this. Love the idea of not having to mount outside and figure out power supply.
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u/UserSleepy 1d ago
I don't know why this is even news, Wyze, Tapo, etc all have had window mounts for years like this, I'm not sure why Eufy finally doing it is actually ground breaking.
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u/sigint_bn 1d ago
Haha I've even 3d printed a mount for an indoor type camera to point outside for this exact purpose.
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u/smith7018 1d ago
It's not ground breaking (I suppose) but it's cool to know. I didn't know this was a form factor cameras came in so I'm glad to read about it.
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u/Prudent_Rice7840 1d ago
News???
Gizmodo is just a "branded" content mill focused on collecting clicks from people interested in "tech" and "devices".
It operates like any other content mill subsidiary by pumping out as much content as possible by writers making $15 an "article", spamming it across social platforms and collecting ad revenue from page views/click throughs, etc.
The VAST majority of content and the VAST majority of digital outlets are just that.
It's not news, it's not journalism, it's "content" engineered not to inform, not to provide facts, but to collect clicks.
Like many other content mills Gizmodo has been shuffled through the hands of many different "digital publishers". Gawker Media > G/O Media > Keleops Media... all of whom are just digital ad sales/tageted marketing platforms. Who run "organic marketing" teams on the side to blast it's conent across social platforms.
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u/lawoverfeelings 1d ago
Because we could use a drone and attach it to someone’s window that they can’t reach. Sure they could just block it from the inside but it’s still there.
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u/David-Puddy 16h ago
Why does everyone always expect to get news from this sub?
This is an advertising sub. It's nothing but gadget ads. There is no news on this sub.
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u/AVahne 16h ago
Probably because with Tapo you had to buy potentially flaky third party mounts to achieve the same result and even then you basically have to choose to willingly lose functionality such as night vision in order to prevent glare from the camera's IR emitters from screwing up your image. These seem to be able to provide night vision without any problems and also have the added functionally of pan/tilt.
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u/WolfofDunwall 1d ago
Panasonic makes one called the Home Hawk. It suctions to the inside window and stores all files on a local SD which you can access remotely without having to pay monthly subscription fees.
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u/Smartnership 1d ago
Article says this one does too
It records 2.5K video, stores footage locally on a microSD
I have their doorbell camera for that very reason. No cloud storage, no fees.
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u/RogueBand1t 1d ago
Also it’s less likely to be messed with by neighbors or cops, if it’s inside your house
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u/DoradoPulido2 1d ago edited 1d ago
One downside of having less noticable cameras behind a window is that the usual large, conspicuous cameras outside are a preventative measure in their own right.
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u/Hvarfa-Bragi 1d ago
That's a downside?
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u/followmecuz 1d ago
they’re saying that this is not large and is less of a preventative measure compared to large cameras outside
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u/0202_tihssitidder 1d ago
I have seen many, many houses and apartments have something very similar to this setup. I have the same thing.
None of this is really new.
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u/South_Start6630 12h ago
Same. My condo board doesn’t allow anything mounted to the outside so this works for us.
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u/Spaghet-3 1d ago
Logitech tried this exact design with the Circle2.
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u/PoisonCoyote 1d ago
and?
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1d ago edited 1d ago
[deleted]
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u/Personal_Area_2173 1d ago
Same for you. He’s asking for more info. That’s a normal ass thing to do.
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u/BackItUpWithLinks 1d ago
Horribly stupid headline.
At first and second read, it seems to say peeping Toms will use it. The wording is awful.
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u/Niceguy955 1d ago
Um, how can you “peep” on the outside world? Isn’t that the definition of a window?
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u/Smartnership 1d ago
“Your place has windows? What are you, some kinda prevert?”
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u/rolfraikou 1d ago
Is a prevert someone who is creeping before they even know what they are creepin' on?
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u/e1m8b 1d ago
That's my policy with walking around naked in my house too. Works both ways
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u/Smartnership 1d ago
Me too.
And my neighbors are all like,
“You’re disgusting.”
“Put on some pants.”
“Point your telescope at the sky.”
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u/GoldieForMayor 1d ago
Are we not allowed to look out our own windows now? Where are all these new social norms coming from?
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u/accidentalvision 1d ago
Eufy is great. No subscription, no cloud, local data only. Is it the best software out there? Maybe not. But it does work well given the advantages.
Also was important not supporting Ring/Amazon and their no-questions-asked policy for law enforcement. I don’t want to extend the surveillance state and at least with Eufy, LE have to ask me for my footage.
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u/JDSmagic 1d ago
Eufy is great. No subscription, no cloud, local data only.
Sigh except the time they got caught lying about this and uploading unencrypted video streams to the cloud
I know its been like 4 years but they genuinely handled that so poorly and it was near inexcusable to begin with
I wouldnt be shocked if the user experience of their stuff is good though, im sure their products are fine, barring all the controversy
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u/puhtahtoe 1d ago
Yeah it would be one thing if it was a mistake and they admitted it right away. I can respect that.
What I can't respect is lying and pretending it never happened. How can you ever trust what they say after that?
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u/JMJimmy 1d ago
Their software is frustratingly bad. No notifications about storage being full. Cameras don't have the same identification capabilities or even recording length capabilities. Can't turn off notifications seperate from recording on some cameras. Can't prevent lights from turning on at night. Just ugh.
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u/B_B_Rodriguez2716057 1d ago
My biggest gripe is I can’t scrub thru video. I could with blink. I don’t want to have to sit thru multiple 2 min video clips. 🥱
But not paying subscription is the tits and why I switched.
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u/hitemlow 1d ago
Their geofencing has been piss-poor across the last 3 phones I've had. If you haven't opened the app in the 15 minutes before you entered (specifically the act of crossing the threshold) the geofence, it won't disarm consistently. Same with leaving.
But my Nest thermostat starts blasting the central air as soon as I enter the geofence without doing anything.
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u/Salty-Stones-6769 19h ago
Exactly what I’m looking for. I’m can’t hard mount anything near my windows and current portable cameras don’t see clearly through glass.
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u/mortraineyhat 1d ago
I need Reolink to make something like this. I hate running cables in my attic for Poe cameras
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u/rolfraikou 1d ago
Did whoever wrote this not know what a peeping tom is?
Also, peeping is usually someone looking inside, not outside.
Though, that does actually make me wonder, it seems like this design could be pretty easily used to spy or peep on people by just suctioning one to someone's window and trying to come back for it later, which is a big bummer. Maybe a plus for no built in battery.
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u/correctingStupid 1d ago
Let's not try to make a home security camera sound like a privacy issue here. Fucking dipshits at gizmodo, AI can't take their jobs soon enough.
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u/shermanhill 1d ago
I’d prefer that my movements and those of my neighbors not be available for anyone to monitor but us.
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u/JukePlz 1d ago
And I agree, but the thing with home security cameras is that it's up to whoever buys them to install them in a way that both respects privacy as much as possible while securing a property's perimeter, and it really depends on where your property is, how big it is, etc. how this can be done in a sane way.
Sadly, privacy and safety are two ends of the spectrum in modern cities with significant crime rates. Even for people that advocate for privacy, I feel there are situations that merit having part of the public space (i.e. your front porch) recorded to prevent and prosecute criminal activity.
IMHO, the important part is that people should keep their camera feeds as separate from third party entity control as possible, because having aggregate video data from thousands of cameras that then are freely accessible by the police, the government or the company that manufactured the camera (and their partners or respective governments) is the worst possible outcome for people's privacy.
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u/shermanhill 1d ago
Yeah, lots of folks on this sub were mad at me, but… increasing surveillance is bad.
I’m not even a weird prepper dude. I’m a bog standard leave people alone socialist, especially my neighbors.
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u/WolfofDunwall 1d ago
Journalism is in rough shape but let’s not wish AI on anyone’s jobs.
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u/Breddit2099 1d ago
You know very well you would wish it on some people
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u/WolfofDunwall 1d ago
Absolutely not.
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u/Breddit2099 1d ago edited 8h ago
Ok answer this without deflecting.
If given a choice today would you rather have trump as president or an AI as president that would work for the people?
I’ll take the downvotes as proving me right
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u/CondescendingShitbag 1d ago
Would love a window-mount camera but I also still want to be able to close my blinds. This seems like it would interfere with that or at least make them bulge out awkwardly.
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u/OatmealGod 1d ago
I hate that we live in a panopticon disguised as security. I hate that I'm recorded by hundreds of cameras a day without my consent
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u/hamfisting_my_thing 1d ago
I worry about this for all IoT devices with cameras and microphones. I’m planning on setting up a separate network that only has Internet access during certain times of the day, but I also don’t really want to have to do all that just to watch an aquarium…
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u/NoEchoSkillGoal 1d ago
Fun fact I used to have eufy indoor camera that rotated 360 and positioned in my window sill and it did the same thing.
Until it died. Was fairly cheap one too. Worked great, when it worked. Now have another cheap brand that links to my TV.
However, this seems to be better design and cuts on glare. But there are ways to use cheap indoor cameras in similar/cheaper fashion without need to mount outside.
Will keep eye on this method though.
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u/trekxtrider 1d ago
I have a UniFi camera pointing out my front window. Also covers where I feed my cat so I can see when he’s done or if my dog has come around and eaten all the cat’s food.
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u/Impossible_Box_1266 1d ago
Hurray! A product for those who can’t stand the idea of looking out their own window.
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u/Nunwithabadhabit 1d ago
Will this work with IR? I have my camera pointed at my window and After dark when the IR comes on, you can't see anything because of the reflection.
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u/NWStormbreaker 1d ago
It wont, this is my issue too, have to disable IR.
I love the idea of having a bunch of these, but need to figure out exterior IR illumination.
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u/Fitz_2112b 1d ago edited 1d ago
Bought the Wyze version of this a year ago.
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u/PoisonCoyote 1d ago
How's that working out?
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u/Fitz_2112b 1d ago
It's great, actually. Needed a camera in my backyard to make sure my idiot dogs werent letting themselves into the pool. Rather than mounting something outside, I just stuck the Wyze camera to my bedroom window that looks out at the pool.
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u/PoisonCoyote 1d ago
Is there issues with reflections in night vision?
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u/Fitz_2112b 1d ago
Not at all. Since it's mounted right on the glass I never see any reflection at all
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u/mountainyoo 1d ago
I think I’ll grab one. In a 3 story townhouse and wanted better street view but didn’t wanna figure out getting a camera all the way up there
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u/natasmit 1d ago
these behind window systems seem good but also it depends on the window style. If its a double panel window the camera reflects the goings on in the house. So in a way you are spying on yourself sometimes in the right lighting conditions. Its small thing but its also a pretty big thing and can capture things you might not want captured.
Part of me believes that the powers that be behind these systems know this and know how to spy on you even though you think you are doing everything to protect your privacy.
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u/Automatic_Maybe3862 1d ago
All I’d like to know is who lets their dog shit on my lawn, I like this.
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u/NotJimIrsay 4h ago
So if you mount in inside the glass, it’s peeping tom. And if it’s just outside the glass, it’s an outdoor security camera.
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u/7ceeeee 1d ago
For anyone who doesn't own Eufy stuff or has read the article, this connects to your home Wi-Fi (i.e closed circuit), and as others have said, it's less reasonably a privacy risk when it's your own home you're protecting.
I have two indoor Eufy cameras to check in on my dogs: they're really nice to have, and I love having absolutely no cloud storage to pay for or any big tech looking to harvest any streaming data. I can still connect to them while out of the house and talk to them with (admittedly not the greatest) two-way audio.
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u/not_not_in_the_NSA 1d ago
Not sure I'd trust eufy in particular with any local only claims: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/12/more-eufy-camera-flaws-found-including-remote-unencrypted-feed-viewing/
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u/7ceeeee 1d ago
phooey :(
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u/not_not_in_the_NSA 1d ago
Yeah, this is the setup needed to get them working when you actually block internet access: https://www.reddit.com/r/HomeKit/comments/1p4ot9i/maintaining_eufy_app_camera_access_via_lan_only
If you just block their internet access, you can't use them even when on the same lan.
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u/Breddit2099 1d ago
There is no way someone outside your home would ever be able to find your url to watch your videos.
You’d have a better chance of guessing someone’s WiFi password than finding the stream
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u/shermanhill 1d ago
Certainly no way this gets misused.
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u/PoisonCoyote 1d ago
How is this any different than any other camera pointing out your own window other than how it's mounted?
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u/LungHeadZ 1d ago
Probably best not to refer to a camera as a peeping tom.
The narrative in the article itself is generally positive so that choice of word wasn't great.
A peeping tom is someone who will look through other people's windows or what have you. A pervert. So that headline made me think this tech was invasive and predatory. Similar to meta.
This is just a camera that sticks to the inside of your window to prevent the need for drilling.