
Teardown shows Nest Cam is always on even when you think it’s off - swatthatfly
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/11/teardown-shows-nest-cam-is-always-on-even-when-you-think-its-off/
======
CM30
Take it as you will, but some of the comments in the article are saying that
the only things left active are the wifi functionality to remotely switch the
device on again, and that the 'camera' part is completely disabled as you'd
expect.

So at the moment, it's a bit less ominous than the title suggests.

That said, I do find it irritating how many devices seem to want to be on
permanent 'standby' nowadays, especially given all the talk about wasting
electricity. Or the related worries about spies being able to remotely
activate devices because they're not completely off.

~~~
PeterStuer
It says it stops transmitting the video to the cloud service. It doesn't say
it turns of the camera part. In fact, from the power draw and the ABI article
it seems the only things being turned of are the camera indicator led and the
motion detection. Recording seems to continue at 1080p.

~~~
dmd
> Recording seems to continue

It has no on-board storage. Where exactly do you think it's recording to, if
it's not transmitting?

~~~
rplnt
It doesn't have to store the video to process it?

~~~
dmd
No. Dropcam streams. There's no on-board storage. (Ok, maybe there's a
megabyte or so - enough to store about one second of video for buffering
before transmitting.)

~~~
rplnt
How does that negate my statement? You don't have to store (much of) the video
to process it locally on the device. As an example, it's being compressed
before streaming. As to whether it does something with the video is another
question, but it's definitely possible without storage.

~~~
dmd
... which is exactly what I said. You asked "It doesn't have to store the
video to process it?", and I said no, it doesn't, other than a small amount
for processing.

~~~
rplnt
Ah, sorry, I misinterpreted your answer. My question was meant to be rather
rhetorical. I forget it doesn't always work in written form.

------
listic
I don't like paying money for devices and services that are _able_ to steal my
data and/or spy on me.

I would like a security camera that is not able to connect to the outside
world (when I'm back, it would allow me to see what was happening when I was
out). I guess it should be allowed to the local network.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a good one?

~~~
rasz_pl
>I would like a security camera that is not able to connect to the outside
world

The whole point is to have offsite backup. Very first thing more sophisticated
thugs do is disable and steal your DVR setup:

[http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/08/the-
chut...](http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/08/the-chutzpah-of-
a-police-union-in-orange-county-california/400502/)

~~~
brbsix
Surveillance cameras constitute an "illegal eavesdropping operation", says
Santa Ana Police Association. Sick. More and more you have to consider LE as
the enemy when worrying about security (both physical and digital).

------
swiley
You can't really know what it does because the firmware is closed. Firmware on
devices like this is an example of why open source is so important.

~~~
rasz_pl
Dropcam has been rooted before, no idea if nest changed anything

------
upstandingdude
How do I know the article is sensationalist shit? "vice president of teardowns
at ABI Research"

I am Senior Vice President of making spiteful comments at my house.

------
callesgg
"If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a
sound?"

~~~
SixSigma
If it wasn't heard then it didn't fall.

