Latest news with #privacy
CNET
an hour ago
- CNET
Here Are My Top 4 Tested Ways to Get Home Security Without Wi-Fi
Home security technology is becoming more and more common. Recent stats say 94 million US households have adopted security devices like alarms or video doorbells in the past year. However, there's a catch -- a wide majority of modern security systems and cameras can't work without connecting to your Wi-Fi. If you have Wi-Fi that disconnects a lot or don't want to have your home security hooked to Wi-Fi for privacy or safety reasons, this can be really inconvenient. The good news? There are still ways to have home security with advanced security devices without using Wi-Fi at all, and I've found the best ways to do that. So, before you do your summer shopping for your home security setup, let me explain what I mean, what your options are, and the benefits of these various approaches. Can home security systems work without Wi-Fi? Yes. Many home security systems don't need Wi-Fi to work. However, you may be giving up certain features in return for this flexibility. In other cases, add-ons help normally router-dependent home security function even if your Wi-Fi dies, like in a power blackout. Google Are home security systems more vulnerable on Wi-Fi? Hacking home security systems is very rare and is typically only done by acquaintances who already had access to the system. But with poor security habits your wireless network can be vulnerable to hacking. Always enable the highest level of encryption your home devices can support, and create a robust password for your Wi-Fi login. You'll also have to decide whether you want your home security devices online at all. Connecting to the internet in any form can increase certain risks, like getting your info stolen in a large-scale database theft. But it also brings many benefits, including remote monitoring and cloud video storage. How do I know if my security devices can work without a wireless network? Below, we'll cover the best options for security system without Wi-Fi . But looking for cellular, PoE (power over Ethernet) and offline features is the best way to ensure your system doesn't need Wi-Fi, or can keep going if your router goes down. Do home security systems without Wi-Fi cost more? Sometimes, but they can also cost less -- it depends on the type of system you get. An offline camera system is likely to cost less. Cellular backup support will usually cost more. The best home security without Wi-Fi Quit relying on Wi-Fi for your home security management with several effective answers... Option 1: Cellular backup for security systems Arlo's new Security Tag and keypad. Arlo If you want (or already have) a traditional home security system with important features like app alerts and remote live views or controls, your best option is to equip your system with a cellular backup. These backups can replace Wi-Fi with a cell signal, and work in tandem with built-in hub batteries (another common inclusion in modern systems) to keep systems running even when the power is out. The trick is that cellular backups aren't free. In some cases, you'll need to purchase an extra device, like this cellular and battery backup from Arlo ($80). In other cases, your security hub already has the capability. But you'll always have to pay a subscription fee for the service, and cellular support isn't always cheap. Arlo, for example, requires a professional monitoring subscription to get cell and battery backup, which only kicks in at the Premium plan, currently around $25 per month. Ring Alarm starts cellular backup at its Standard plan for compatible systems, which costs $10 per month. Expect similar fees like these to enable cellular backup for essentially any security system. Option 2: PoE (power over Ethernet) devices Reolink's affordable PoE cam is a great budget pick if you have cable options. Reolink PoE systems use a single cable connection to supply both power and an internet connection to a device such as a security camera. That makes them ideal for outdoor cams that are far away from Wi-Fi or that need more reliability. It won't help solve blackout problems, but otherwise it's a hands-off cam that doesn't require battery charging and still provides all the online benefits you want. Reolink stands above most home security brands as one of the best choices for PoE cameras. It offers many options, but one of our favorites is the Reolink 4K RLC-810A outdoor camera. It's a high-res cam that's affordable; has object recognition and long-distance night vision; some smart home support; and is entirely subscription-free when you add a microSD card. Option 3: Closed network NVR system Lorex is an excellent choice for NVR systems that avoid Wi-Fi or stay offline altogether for your privacy. Lorex/CNET Homeowners also have the option to ditch the internet completely with an offline NVR or network video recorder, a favorite option for people who want to keep their home security away from the web, the cloud and any wireless signals entirely. The NVR is connected to a display where it can show multiple feeds at the same time, just like how a security guard monitors cameras in a store. Brands like Lorex or Swann sell a variety of Ethernet cables and shielding to security buyers, and security kits will often come with cables for these kinds of NVR systems. You may also be able to choose an analog setup with a BNC cable, or a wireless setup that skips the router and connects to a compatible home hub (Lorex offers both these options, as well as the ability to turn its more advanced Home Security Center offline). However, an offline NVR setup like this will put your security system back decades. You'll miss out on the most advanced features, including checking live views from a distance on your phone. We recommend staying online if possible: Consider a wired connection that still connects the NVR to the internet for the best of both worlds. Option 4: A noncellular trail cam Trail cams are a rough and ready option if you want to keep watch on a spot without relying on the internet. Founissa/CNET Does managing cables annoy you? You have a final security option that ignores Wi-Fi and can work anywhere, wire-free. These are the same trail cams that capture inquisitive wildlife out in remote areas where cell connections aren't reliable. Trail cams like this model for $30 have far-reaching night vision and lots of battery life so they can last for many months at a time even with 4K resolution and audio. The catch is that if you want to see what the camera picked up, you'll need to manually view it like a digital camera, or take out the SD card for a more lengthy inspection. Still, as a weatherproof set-and-forget option, trail cams have their place. Read more: Top Home Security Tips When You're Renting with Roommates Get a more complete look at your options with our guides to the top DIY home security systems, wireless home security, and security systems that can easily move with you if you're frequently on the go.
CNN
3 hours ago
- General
- CNN
Metal legend Ozzy Osbourne dies at 76-years-old
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Gizmodo
3 hours ago
- Gizmodo
DuckDuckGo Is Hoping to Win Over AI-Hating Searchers
Are you tired of AI-generated images cluttering your search results? Lucky for you, there's a way out of the slop, and it starts with forgetting about Google. DuckDuckGo, the privacy-focused search engine and web browser, recently rolled out a new feature that allows users to hide images made with AI from their search results. You can try it yourself right now by running a search on the DuckDuckGo search engine and going to the images tab. You'll now see a new drop-down menu option titled 'AI Images' that can be toggled to hide or show AI images. 'Our goal is to help you find what you're looking for. You should decide for yourself how much AI you want in your life – or if you want any at all,' the company said in an announcement posted on the social media site X (formerly Twitter). The company's filter uses open-source blocklists to screen out the AI-generated images. Although it won't catch everything, it should significantly cut down the number of AI images in search results. The news comes as AI slop has been proliferating at an exponential rate. And while it's, at the very least, an eyesore, the bigger concern is how convincingly real these images are becoming. There has even been debate whether AI images should be watermarked by default to make them easier to spot. But, some argue that if the watermarks are easy to remove, they could backfire and give some AI-generated images a false sense of authenticity. Android Authority reported last week that OpenAI is already testing a watermark feature for images generated in the beta version of ChatGPT's Android app. Additionally, the site speculates that the ability to save images without a watermark might be granted to paid users. However, since the feature hasn't been officially announced, its final form, or whether it launches at all, could still change. DuckDuckGo launched in 2008 and now offers web browsers on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android. Its browsers come full with several privacy features, including blocking third-party trackers, stopping targeted ads (even on YouTube), and it doesn't track searches. The company says it makes money from private ads on its search engine. Although the company puts an emphasis on online privacy, it is not necessarily anti-AI. In its announcement of its AI image filter, the company said its philosophy for AI features is that they should be 'private, useful, and optional.' The company already offers several AI features, including which lets users access custom versions of popular models from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Mistral, while keeping their conversations anonymous and untracked. In fact, the company announced today that users can now customize how those models respond, adjusting tone, length, and even what 'role' the model takes when replying.
Mediapart
5 hours ago
- Mediapart
The pull of the far-right, as seen from a small town in Normandy
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Fast Company
5 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Fast Company
What the Coldplay concert saga tells us about our privacy
When the 'KissCam' at a Coldplay concert landed on a couple who tried (but failed) to duck out of the spotlight, the internet immediately got to work. In hours, the clip was just about everywhere. Endless memes, parody videos and photos of the pair's shocked faces filled social media feeds. Online sleuths rushed to identify who was on camera. Artificial intelligence and software company Astronomer eventually confirmed that its CEO and chief people officer were in fact the couple in the video — and announced the CEO's resignation over the weekend. The incident's fallout has, of course, generated conversations about business ethics, corporate accountability and the repercussions that conflicts of interest among leadership can cause. But there are also broader implications at play in our increasingly online world — about the state of potentially being visible everywhere you go or tracked through 'social media surveillance.' Experts say it's more and more common for moments that may have been intended to be private, or at least reserved to a single physical venue, to make their way online and even go global today. So in the era of lightning-fast social sharing and when cameras are practically inescapable, does being in public hold any expectation of privacy anymore? Is every experience simply fodder for the world to see? Subscribe to the Design newsletter. The latest innovations in design brought to you every weekday Privacy Policy | Fast Company Newsletters Cameras are everywhere It's no secret that cameras are filming much of our lives these days. From CCTV security systems to Ring doorbells, businesses, schools and neighborhoods use ample video surveillance around the clock. Sporting and concert venues have also filmed fans for years, often projecting playful bits of audience participation to the rest of the crowd. In short, the on-scene viewer becomes part of the product — and the center of attention. And of course, consumers can record just about anything if they have a smartphone in their pocket — and, if it's enticing to other social media users, that footage can quickly spread through cyberspace. Ellis Cashmore, author of the book 'Celebrity Culture,' proposes that the rapid fame of last week's KissCam moment probably answers a question many have been asking for years: 'Is the private life still what it was? And the answer is, of course, there's no such thing as the private life anymore,' he notes. 'Certainly not in the traditional sense of the term.' 'I'm not sure that we can assume privacy at a concert with hundreds of other people,' adds Mary Angela Bock, an associate professor in the University of Texas at Austin's School of Journalism and Media. 'We can't assume privacy on the street anymore.' Some version of the KissCam has long been a staple at big events — from timeouts during sports games to romantic songs played by artists at their concerts. It's easy to miss, but most venues have signs to inform the audience that they could be filmed during the event. What's been different in more recent years, experts note, is how quickly those moments can travel beyond the physical space where they actually unfold. That isn't only limited to what shows up on a jumbotron. Sometimes it only takes one person in the crowd to capture any interaction on their phone and post the video online — where it can zip around the world. 'It's not just the camera,' Bock says. 'It's the distribution system that is wild and new.' Once something's viral, doxing often follows Then there's the second ring of exposure—what happens after the video or photos spread. advertisement Experts point to growing instances of social media users rushing to publicly identify, or dox, the people captured on camera—much like how quickly the internet committed to finding those involved in the Coldplay moment, for example. The LinkedIn pages belonging both to Astronomer's now-former CEO and chief people officer remained disabled on Monday, and The Associated Press could not reach either for comment. But it isn't limited to company executives. Beyond someone simply spotting a familiar face and spreading the word, technological advances—including AI—have made it easier and faster overall to find just about anyone in an online post. This can happen with videos and photos shared on social media each day, even if it doesn't go viral, experts warn. 'It's a little bit unsettling how easily we can be identified with biometrics, how our faces are online, how social media can track us—and how the internet has gone from being a place of interaction, to a gigantic surveillance system,' Bock says. 'When you think about it, we are being surveilled by our social media. They're tracking us in exchange for entertaining us.' And of course, such moments can also impact people who were not actually on camera. As easy as it can be to be identified online today, the internet is notorious for cutting a broad swath or not always getting it right. That sometimes produces harassment of individuals not actually involved. At last week's Coldplay concert, for example, many social media users speculated that a third person seen near the two caught on camera was another Astronomer employee — leading to swarms of posts targeting her. But the company later confirmed that she was not at the event and said no other employees were in the video circulating online. For the now-viral moment, 'we can talk about what's right and wrong, and whether they deserved it,' says Alison Taylor, a clinical associate professor at New York University's Stern School of Business. Still, it's a 'very frightening thing to get a lot of abuse and harassment online,' Taylor notes. 'There are real human beings behind this.' It's hard to think that that these kind of viral moments will ever go away — and there are few legal restrictions to stop users from sharing clips of interactions recorded from anything from a concert to the street widely online. But on an individual level, Bock says it can be helpful to 'think before you share' and question whether something's really accurate. 'Social media has changed so much,' Bock says. 'But we really have not, as a society, caught up with the technology in terms of our ethics and our etiquette.' —Wyatte Grantham-Philips, AP business writer Associated Press journalists Hilary Fox and Kelvin Chan contributed to this report.
