Geoffrey A. Fowler reports:
Ding-dong, your doorbell is looking a bit creepy.
Ring video doorbells, Nest Hello and other connected security cameras are the fastest-growing home improvement gadgets since garage door openers. These cameras, often built into buzzers, alert your phone when someone is at your door and save footage online. Mine has helped me get deliveries and catch porch pirates stealing packages. Earlier this month, one caught a man licking a family’s doorbell for three hours.
What’s not to love? Invading people’s privacy – and Big Brother at our doorstep. It’s up to us to set the rules to avoid Big Doorbell.
We’re on a slippery slope. You’ve got a legal right to film in public places, including your entryway. There’s little agreement whether private cameras slash crime rates, yet police are setting up voluntary registries for private cameras in dozens of communities. Cities such as Washington, D.C., have begun paying up to $500 for cameras on private property. Detroit is going further: Its mayor wants to mandate security cameras at businesses open late, with a live feed going straight to police.
Read more on ADN.com.
via Joe Cadillic