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posted by Fnord666 on Saturday August 17 2019, @01:43AM   Printer-friendly
from the no-more-peeking-cams dept.

Submitted via IRC for SoyCow2718

Google removes option to disable Nest cams' status light

No more stashing your Nest security cameras in the bushes to catch burglars unaware: Google informed users on Wednesday that it's removing the option to turn off the status light that indicates when your Nest camera is recording.

You can still dim the light that shows when Google's Nest, Dropcam, and Nest Hello cameras are on and sending video and audio to Nest, Google said, but you can't make it go away on new cameras. If the camera is on, it's going to tell people that it's on – with its green status light in Nest and Nest Home and the blue status light in Dropcam – in furtherance of Google's newest commitment to privacy.

Google introduced its new privacy commitment at its I/O 2019 developers conference in May, in order to explain how its connected home devices and services work.

The setting that enabled users to turn off the status light is being removed on all new cameras. When the cameras' live video is streamed from the Nest app, the status light will blink. The update will be done over-the-air for all Nest cams: Google's update notice said that the company was rolling out the changes as of Wednesday, 14 August 2019.

The change is a plus for the privacy-aware: say, people who are wary of their Airbnb hosts secretly filming them in the shower or bedroom.

On the other end of the spectrum, it's an outrage to some users who say they've spent big bucks on cameras that can stay hidden. One comment on Google's update notice called it "an absurd update and an invasion of my rights as a consumer" – more of a "post-purchase middle finger" to customers than a privacy plus.


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  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 17 2019, @03:42AM (5 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 17 2019, @03:42AM (#881425)

    Opaque fingernail polish.

    Learned that one from my daughter. She read something about iphone front cameras being hacked to spy on young girls, so she painted over the front lens with black polish. Looks a lot better than tape, and stays in place too.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 17 2019, @05:20AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 17 2019, @05:20AM (#881439)

    Bluetack.

  • (Score: 2) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Saturday August 17 2019, @05:38AM (3 children)

    by Rosco P. Coltrane (4757) on Saturday August 17 2019, @05:38AM (#881446)

    While I applaud your daughter's unusual awareness of privacy issues, I reckon a piece of tape would have been more clever - you know, for when she occasionally wants to take a selfie with her friends, or to maintain the iPhone's resale value.

    • (Score: 2) by Arik on Saturday August 17 2019, @06:11AM

      by Arik (4543) on Saturday August 17 2019, @06:11AM (#881451) Journal
      It would look tacky though. A bit of polish done neat and it looks like it was made that way.

      At least, I suspect that would be why she did it that way.
      --
      If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
    • (Score: 3, Informative) by dx3bydt3 on Saturday August 17 2019, @10:11AM (1 child)

      by dx3bydt3 (82) on Saturday August 17 2019, @10:11AM (#881480)

      The polish can be quickly removed with acetone, so no selfies, but there shouldn't be an impact on resale value.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 17 2019, @01:10PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 17 2019, @01:10PM (#881510)

        Doesn't affect the lens? Cause any problems?