Amazon’s security business, called Ring, recently announced that they have developed a small, lightweight drone that travels and records video footage of chosen areas in your home. You can then watch the live recording on your phone. It’s called the Ring Always Home Cam. Ring is releasing the drone next year at a price of $250. According to Rachel Metz from CNN, “users can set up paths for the drone via a smartphone app, or if the drone detects motion in a part of your home it can fly on its own to that spot and take video of what’s going on” (Metz). And once the drone returns back to its dock, the camera gets blocked and stops recording.
Image Source: Amazon
This new device definitely brings up questions and concerns about privacy. CNN’s article stated that Ring has “partnerships with hundreds of police departments around the US” and some believe it acts as a “widespread surveillance network” (Metz). Personally, I’m not comfortable with the idea of a moving camera that has the ability to travel throughout my home. This technology could be beneficial to have against home invaders as well as to be able to check on your house while you’re gone at work or on vacation, for example. However, it doesn’t change the fact that this device takes on a whole new level of invading one’s privacy.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/24/tech/amazon-ring-drone/index.html
About a year ago, my mom purchased a Ring doorbell for our home. At first, she did not pay for the Ring to record and keep the recordings, but as cars were being stolen in our town, she upgraded the device. With this Amazon Ring drone, I do think that it is nice that if people are out of town and want to check on their home, they have the opportunity to do that with this one device. But in the past, we have heard of people’s Rings getting hacked. In 2019 a Mississippi family said someone hacked a Ring security camera set up in their children’s bedroom and taunted their 8-year-old daughter. Ashley LeMay, the girl’s mother, said that the hacker could have watched her daughters changing or sleeping. “They could have seen all kinds of things,” she said. This is my biggest concern for devices like this cause you never know who could gain access to what it is viewing.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/man-hacks-ring-camera-8-year-old-girl-s-bedroom-n1100586
I think the idea itself is brilliant. I never thought of making a drone into a home security device. However, I do not think people will find purpose of buying this drones, because security cameras fulfills the same purpose. Security cameras are less complicated and cheaper than drones do. Also, drones have to deal with privacy and security issues. Drone is a small device. It could be easily hacked by advanced hackers. Think about a drone getting hacked and flies all around your house. It is going to be a nightmare. Everyone in the house with those drones will lose their privacy.
Therefore, making this drone for home security use is not efficient. Amazon should target this device to use in business. Because drones can move through specific areas and record the footage, it can record places where cameras can not reach. It will be very useful device if used in huge market places such as Target or Walmart. People will not need to watch CCTVs 24/7 if these drones do the jobs for them. It can be very useful device if used in those businesses.
As a computer engineering student, this new kind of technology excites me a lot, however at the same time I can myself see where there may be some concerns. I know in the past I have read stories about other Ring-like services being breached and used for malicious purposes, and Im sure the potential exists for the same thing to be done with a drone, with the added problem of it being mobile and controllable. As well, I could see this being an issue if used in improper places. It looks as though the drone is designed to be somewhat “stealthy”, so im sure it is possible that it could be used in places other than the home by people with bad intent. With all this in mind I can still see the massive potential that technology like this provides to us, so I can only hope proper security and usage requirement measures are taken to ensure that this device can be used to its full and proper potential.
This is a really interesting product. I think these kinds of products are going to start becoming normal with time, but they are still a little bit creepy for a big amount of people. Not only creepy but also concerning. These huge tech companies all work with cloud-based software, and when you trust their services with things like the security of your house, you are putting a lot of trust in their software. The biggest concern regarding this is privacy. However, I think with the development of these products, companies will realize they need to ensure that the user feels safe with trusting them with their privacy to buy their products. For example, Amazon has been working on this and offers options like end-to-end encrypting and a privacy control dashboard as stated in an article by The Verge. I am excited for what has to come in the future, and I think we still need to improve a lot in the relationship between the users and how the companies use their data.
Source: https://www.theverge.com/2020/9/25/21455197/amazon-ring-drone-home-security-surveillance-sidewalk-halo-privacy
This is a really interesting product. I think these kinds of products are going to start becoming normal with time, but they are still a little bit creepy for a big amount of people. Not only creepy but also concerning. These huge tech companies all work with cloud-based software, and when you trust their services with things like the security of your house, you are putting a lot of trust in their software. The biggest concern regarding this is privacy. However, I think with the development of these products, companies will realize they need to ensure that the user feels safe with trusting them with their privacy to buy their products. For example, Amazon has been working on this and offers options like end-to-end encrypting and a privacy control dashboard as stated in an article by The Verge. I am excited for what has to come in the future, and I think we still need to improve a lot in the relationship between the users and how the companies use their data.
While for me this product is very useful and is a very interesting technology. The amazon home security drone is very helpful to detect the stranger who tries to come into my home and do anything bad and if I am on a vacation, the home security drone will be turned on and check the environment around my house or the motion detection function will help me to detect what people try to trespass my home. It would be a good thing.
However, in the view of privacy, the home security drone would cause a lot of trouble for my neighbors or if my neighbor has one it maybe also would bring me some concerns. Let’s say if my neighbor had one of the home security drones. I will feel insecure about the environment I am staying in because the drone may also record the behavior or activity I did through the window or in the back of my yard maybe the drone will have a loud sound when it begins to operate which will not wake them up but also will wake my up.
Moreover, if I have a drone. I used it to protect my home from invasion or trespasses. The drone is taking a picture of me or recording the environment and activity about my family. The drone may send back all this data to Amazon which is very insecure and we will never be able to tell whether or not Amazon is collecting or supervising our information and activities or not. Thus, in my aspect, the home security drone is a good thing. However, the company of Amazon needs to solve the problem of how to protect our personal data and how to let people believe their information is not being collect or use in any circumstance.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/24/amazon-ring-flying-security-camera-drone-announced.html
I will get to security but for starters, I do not think this device is very practical unless you are on vacation or something. Let’s say this drone is “on stand by” while everyone is in bed and the sensor detects something downstairs that is just the family dog; this drone will turn on start flying around the house with the blades spinning potentially waking people up. I believe for indoor security, a small camera in a specific room is much more practical than a drone flying around the house. Also from a security standpoint, this device is very creepy. This is going to sound super paranoid, but this device can be scanning every inch of our house for the government. Instead of just a still camera monitoring one place this drone can capture every corner and map out our homes. Or for Amazons purposed this drone can try to find items we need and start suggesting specific items for you on their website.
I think the drone seems a little over the top. You have to program the drone to check certain areas of the home, but I don’t see why you wouldn’t just get a camera security system so you do not have to worry about a drone flying around the house. Having stationary cameras fulfills the same purpose and I’m sure you could probably get other security measures for your house as a bundle rather than paying $250 for a drone. ADT is a company that can install cameras and you can keep an eye on your home and since its a company that is only for home security, privacy won’t be too much of a concern versus getting a product made by Amazon which is a company famous for using data from customers for themselves.
Link to article for home security systems: https://bestcompany.com/home-security?sp=bing&msclkid=77895a371ce01d36e27b05408edce03e&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=%5Bhsec%5D%20Brands%20%28ADT%29%20%28tROAS%29&utm_term=%2Badt%20home%20%2Bsecurity&utm_content=adt-monitored%20security&utm_expid=.g7YW9JcUQHe94T8z9W-8Xg.0&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bing.com%2F
Personally, I think this kind of drone cameras should be strictly prohibited from sale, because you never know who will buy them and what they will do with these cameras. I’m a person who doesn’t like being photographed, if I walk around the neighborhood one day and there is a drone flying around me, even if the person driving it didn’t mean to film and didn’t invade my privacy, I will still feel uncomfortable. That is not the worst part. What’s really worrying is that these drones may invade your privacy. If a drone comes to your window and the camera is shooting at your home, it’s an invasion of privacy. Of course, there is a certain level of invasion of privacy. If the drones film in front of your home during the day, you can still see them and avoid keeping your privacy from being invaded, but if the camera is pointing at your home at night, this is a serious violation of your privacy.
Besides these, I think spy cameras should also be banned or only sold to businesses that need them, such as a police station or a bank. Because some people may use them to do creepy things, and those cameras are too small to see, such as the shower gel spy cameras, bathroom tissue box spy cameras, and electrical outlet spy cameras.
my source: https://www.komando.com/privacy/10-types-of-spy-cameras-that-could-be-watching-you-right-now/356644/
While I found this “camera drone” to be extremely creative, I am worried that the use of cameras has gone too far. I know multiple people with the “Ring” doorbell that records activity at the front door. They all love this device because it can show them who exactly approaches the front door, but I believe this is as far as the use of cameras should go in a home. I have a friend who has cameras all over her house, and she constantly complains about how she feels invaded by them. Her parents can watch her at all times and see exactly what she is doing and where she is in the house. She feels as if she is constantly being watched and is often uncomfortable in her own home.
I believe the use of a drone in a home can be extremely detrimental to children. I could never imagine having a drone in my house that would allow my parents to see everything I do. I would feel extremely uncomfortable and especially nervous to have my friends over knowing my parents could watch everything we do. All kids push boundaries, but constantly knowing your parents can see you at all times would just make them sneakier.
Personally, I believe that this drone camera is an invasion of privacy and should be banned from the markets. The use of cameras in homes have gone way too far and most kids I know are extremely uncomfortable with the idea that their parents could watch them at any time.
First of all, I find it extremely interesting that we have the technology to be able to create things like this… it is truly incredible. Although it is intriguing, I think there are many different factors that go into this product that make me not want to buy it.
I think this is a creative way to assist in home invasions, but it’s pretty big. It is not something subtle that a home invader could easily miss. If this comes flying through the house towards a home invader I don’t think they are just going to look the other way.
It is very interesting that it can detect movement in another room, but is this thing gonna come flying down the hall when you enter a room? How about when your pet wanders around the house? In my personal opinion, I think that this product would just get on my nerves more than it would benefit me. On top of this, I also believe it is a privacy concern. If someone hacks your phone or the account used to run this, and gets into those cameras, they will be able to tell that you are not home. Also, they may be able to watch you change, shower, etc., which is extremely concerning.
Overall I would not purchase this product for my home because I think there are way too many things that could go wrong with it. I would be annoyed by it flying around when it detects movement for one, and I would constantly be worried about someone spying on me through it.
The NY Times actually wrote an article on this product. Throughout the article they discussed all of the things that could go wrong with this device present in your home. The article included different individuals concerns with the product and the reasons they may or may not buy the Ring Always Home Camera.
Article: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/24/technology/amazon-ring-drone.html
This product to me has one potential good one use, and a severely big privacy issue that out weights the good with the bad in my opinion. You already read about times when the Ring doorbell has been hacked and people have been able to see through the camera. And that is just them looking at the front porch and seeing who comes to the door, and being able to trigger it to ring. Now imagine if these same people hack into this drone and can see footage of your whole house wherever you want to fly this thing. This product could maybe work for me if I lived alone, and people couldn’t tell where my address is based of if the drone can see out the windows. If I had a family however I would be very nervous to even bring this drone in my house, because you don’t know what the video that is being taken is going to be used for, and where it is going. On the other hand I guess this is becoming more and more of a problem everyday. We have to sacrifice our privacy a whole lot more to have these IoT devices, so I feel as if this is going to be the new normal.
I, also, am not entirely comfortable with this technology. I think that it’s a huge security issue, even though it seems to be a huge help to us on paper. If hackers were able to get into this drone and scope out the house you live in without you realizing it, that would be a very bad situation. The way I see it is that homeowners are able to set predetermined locations for the drone to check in on, which are most likely going to be areas with valuables. Therefore, it’d be pretty easy to a hacker to figure out what the homeowner is hiding or protecting.
However, I feel that this product does come down to personal choice. If homeowners think it’s the best way to monitor their home and aren’t worried about privacy concerns, then it would be a great solution. In all reality, there isn’t much privacy anymore.
Although this technology can be used to stop home invasions or at least record the ones that occur. The other issue is a smart and technologically savvy thief could also use the drone to their advantage and use it to scope out potential targets. This also could be used as you said to collect surveillance on citizens and share it with other companies. I think before this is rolled out and installed in many homes there needs to be a very thorough testing around its security systems. However, another bright side to this that I see is not for security purposes but also for simple safety checks. If some people have a tendency to maybe leave their doors unlocked or forget to turn off the oven then this drone could be useful in seeing if they left something on. For people with pets, it could also be used as well as people who may not be able to find a baby sitter.
This is an interesting concept, I am not entirely sure how I would feel about this to be completely honest. From a security standpoint, something like this will constantly draw attention to itself. It kind of reminds me of those very small flies that act as cameras that we see in movies, if they were able to develop something like that then I think something like this could work since it can’t really draw attention to itself if it goes into subtle areas. Like imagine you wanted to monitor your pet’s behavior when you leave your house, the moment you try to make the drone move, it’ll easily catch the attention of the pet, they might even start following it around trying to catch it as a result. It can’t really be the most realistic type of security method I would personally go and vouch for but we’ll see what happens.
Like you said, I’m not to fond of the idea of a camera drone flying around my house when I sleep. I don’t really see how much of a benefit it would actually be to improve the security and safety of my home. Also, I don’t think it adds significant value over other security products that are already on the market. If I wanted surveillance inside my home, a couple hidden cameras would do the trick and at least with those I know what they are recording. Plus, it seems like it would be an inconvenience. If a family member or myself get up at night to get a glass of water or use the restroom will it activate and start flying around the house? How about if my dog is going around the house too? Plus for the price, this is something I’d never consider purchasing.
My source: https://www.cnet.com/news/amazons-new-ring-camera-is-actually-a-flying-drone-for-inside-your-home/
I personally have used the Ring doorbells at my home, but I do not think I would want this version. I am not sure what prompted them to create this type of home surveillance because this same job could be done by regular stationary cameras.
This definitely brings up security concerns especially when the company is linked to different police companies. If anyone besides the homeowner was able to view this footage it would be very bad.
I am also not sure how they can confirm this device will only be shooting the areas of the house it is meant to.I feel like it could accidentally record passers-by or neighbors in the process of its movement. It also may be difficult for people who have never used drones before to use.
Overall there are very big security concerns, especially because ring cameras have been hacked in the past so hacking a home security drone would be much worse. I do not think this product is worth the money or risk and could be replaced with regular stationary cameras.
I don’t know how I would feel about a drone flying around my house to be honest. However, this is very interesting. Depending on if they continue to innovate the drones to be used outside and in common areas where there is crime, then we might be moving towards a country with little to no privacy. Imagine just walking around and looking up and just seeing a drone recording you. I think that would be so annoying or even scary. This could turn into something like we talked about in class, the technology they use in China to determine someone’s citizen rating. Maybe one day we will be penalized for jaywalking, we have no idea, but these drones are one step closer to being constantly monitored. The possibilities of this in the world are limitless, but they will be able to learn more about us than ever before, which is frightening. Overall, I liked the article and I think you did a great job analyzing it.
I find this drone to be very weird and I do not think I would trust this product to be flying around my house and taking videos. I think these drones will definitely be able to get hacked into and the hackers will be able to fly this drone around your house and take a video. I know I do not want someone being able to watch me at anytime they want if they are able to hack this drone. Who knows what the hacker will see and what they will do with the video. The last thing I want is for someone to have a video of me sleeping on the internet. I also do not want the drone to have a problem and crash into something and break it or even hit someone in my house. I would never trust to have this drone in my house, I do not think it is worth the little bit of protection you get for the amount of risk you take by allowing this drone to be in your house. I would not trust this technology in my house until I know that it is safe to have in my house.
This article is very interesting. I’m not quite sure if I would like to have a drone fly around my house recording everything that is going on. Where is the recording going? Who will be able to view this footage? These questions are something that is very important to owners. I definitely think this is a great idea for people who tend to worry about what may be going on in their own homes but I do not think I would purchase this. I agree with your point that it doesn’t change the fact that this product really is able to see everything that is going on in one’s life. It is creepy, to say the least. Now that I am more aware of how devices are able to find out everything about one’s life it does make me super skeptical, but I guess it is the way technology is growing and I will have to embrace is whether I like it or not.