Cloud cameras are great, until they aren't
First, they came for the dogs
Imagine a posse of linked cameras helping you locate your missing dog. Sounds cute and innocuous right? That’s what Ring is promising with a new Search Party feature for its outdoor cameras. It harnesses AI and your neighbours’ cameras to track down lost dogs.
Search Party feature will probably help plenty of dog owners — over 10 million dogs are reported missing every year in the US — reunite with their pets. At first glance, it’s similar to Ring’s Fire Watch feature that uses AI to detect smoke and fire, but for dogs. However, it’s seems trivial to get the AI to go from looking for dogs to looking for something else.
Because it’s scary how good AI-powered computer vision is at this moment. I had the opportunity to check out Arlo’s latest AI-powered smart home security cameras last week. It was eye-opening, to say the least.
Arlo has a similar fire detection feature, as well as audio, animal, package and vehicle detection. The Arlo cameras are able to recognise faces, and users can subsequently put a name to them. There’s even a beta feature that lets users create their own scenarios for alerts, for example, if your child’s bicycle had been left outside the home.
These cameras can also describe a scene in painstaking detail, from the colour of a vehicle to the actual model and make. Once everything is logged, users can search videos for a particular person or incident, and pull up the relevant ones.
Most of us are probably aware of such AI-powered features from movies and news. They are already being used by businesses and governments. Many cities, including Singapore, have plenty of CCTVs that are used to deter crime, and catch speeding drivers, for example.
But seeing it in action hits differently. Because home security cameras are obviously located in private places, and knowing that they can be potentially used for other purposes, especially with these AI-powered features, makes me rather queasy. Arlo obviously says all the right things about privacy, though it will disclose data to authorities when served with a court order, legal request, or subpoena. You do have the ability to delete videos and account data in the Arlo app’s Privacy Center.
I have much less confidence in Ring. The Amazon-owned brand has a spotty track record, especially when it comes to allowing access to US law enforcement. While Search Party sounds helpful, it doesn’t take much imagination to see how it can be used to track more than just pets — given the current political climate in the US.
Alternatively, you could always pick one of the many brands with local storage (like a microSD card) for their cameras. You won’t need to pay a subscription, though you probably won’t have access to AI-powered features. But at least you’ll know that your videos won’t be leaked by the cloud provider or security camera vendor.
This week, we checked out a Xiaomi air purifier, Sony’s first clip-style open earbuds, and a misting fan from Shark.
With the haze making a return to Singapore, the Mijia Smart Air Purifier Max could come in handy. It boasts impressive specs for its speed at removing pollutants, and claims to be effective at removing formaldehyde. It’s also very quiet, and when running at Auto, is about as quiet as a whisper.
Sony is getting into clip-style open earbuds with the LinkBuds Clip. While the design and comfort are fine, the LinkBuds Clip is lacking some of the features found in its competitors, such as wear detection. Coupled with its relatively high price, I wouldn’t recommend it over the other options in the market.
The Shark FlexBreeze Pro Mist FA300SM has a large 4.5L water tank that lets it produce a strong mist to cool you outdoors for about an hour. If you’re indoors, this mist is a bit too strong. You can also detach the upper portion to use it indoors as a desktop fan. Battery life is good at the lowest speed at around 24 hours.