Comment by prepend
3 years ago
I suspect because Google and Amazon want to use the data from the video feeds for their own purposes. I think using it for CV modeling and advertising can make them more money than not using it.
Also, they can charge police for these data.
I won’t buy their products because of their decision to monetize over privacy. What I find interesting is that their products aren’t cheaper than other privacy preserving products from Wyze and Apple so this extra revenue is pure profit or gravy. This isn’t some essential need of their business model, they just don’t respect user privacy enough to avoid this extra revenue.
It’s probably because it’s somewhat more complex to implement encrypted end of end video and storage, with a slightly more complex user experience. So they cut corners, knowing most people don’t care about encryption.
Complexity is not an issue. It a very basic thing to do in these days.
UX might be a bigger issue, as it is harder to view this data in any device and still keep keys unaccessible by Google. But still not too hard. People use Whatsapp web in daily basis.
Main problem is the ML use for video feed to trigger some stuff etc.
Of course complexity is an issue. If users don't care about E2E encryption, why would Google spend more time implementing an E2E application?
Has Wyze ever provided privacy guarantees on their cloud service? Their privacy policy says they will gladly share data.
> In response to a request for information if we believe disclosure is in accordance with, or required by, any applicable law or legal process, including lawful requests by public authorities to meet national security or law enforcement requirements;
IANAL but that sure sounds to me like they will provide data in cases where they aren't legally required to (as in a warrant) as long as they believe it's "in accordance with" the law. Which could mean almost anything other than a clearly illegal request.
https://www.wyze.com/policies/privacy-policy#c
I like Wyze and think they are acting in good faith, but I wouldn't assume they would say no to a request from government/police. They may offer local recording and RTSP, but AFAIK they are still cloud connected unless you otherwise block them or use alternate firmware and hence not private.
According to TFA, Wyze and Anker will both hand over data in response to a warrant or a court order, not simply on request.