I thought my 'smart' doorbell was just for packages until I saw the data it was sending

I got one of those video doorbells about a year ago, mostly to stop porch pirates in my neighborhood. Figured it was just a camera that sent alerts. Then last week, I was setting up a new router and saw a list of all the devices on my network. The doorbell was sending data packets to three different servers I didn't recognize, every 30 seconds, even when nothing was happening. I looked up the IPs and they were linked to data analytics firms, not the doorbell company itself. It hit me that this thing wasn't just watching my front step; it was a little spy, probably logging when I come and go, who visits, and selling that info. I felt pretty dumb for not checking sooner. Has anyone else dug into what their 'smart' home stuff is actually doing on the network?

3 comments

3 Comments

karenb9710h ago

Ugh, that's so creepy but not surprising. My weather app asked for my exact location the other day, like why does it need that? Everything's just data now.

foster.jordan8h ago

Right? "Everything's just data now" is exactly how it feels, @karenb97. My apps are always asking for way more info than they need. It's so annoying.

annajenkins2h agoMost Upvoted

Honestly I just give them fake info half the time. My weather app thinks I live in three different cities, it's a mess. They can have my bad data if they really want it.