About a year ago I posted a blog article: 1984 – Ring Camera
In this article I revisited a novel that has had a reoccurring presence in my life, George Orwell’s 1984. In the novel cameras and microphones are everywhere, neighbors spy on neighbors, family spy on family, spouses spy on spouses. In my post I tied these ubiquitous cameras of 1984 to the explosion of cameras in our society, specific door bell cameras such as Amazon’s Ring camera. My general thesis was that we were bringing 1984 on to ourselves by installing these cameras, ourselves, everywhere.
I recently came across a review of these type of cameras from Wired: Why We Don’t Recommend Ring Cameras.
I will leave it you dear reader to read the article and evaluate their arguments. But their bottom line can be summarized with their closing paragraph:
“If you’re looking for a home security camera, whether it’s a video doorbell or an outdoor camera, we would like to remind you that there are many, many alternatives. Ring cameras are cheap and ubiquitous, but contributing to a just society is also a factor in keeping your family safe.”
Perhaps I should not worry about such things, but recent events make me frequently think we are not far from sliding down the proverbial slippery slope into a totalitarian society. Little things do add up.
And so it should not go.
Makes me say, hmmm. We have Ring–one camera. We also have a security system with cameras.
For me, Ring is most useful for seeing who is at the door without me having to be at the door. Telling a salesperson to go away without me having to risk my physical safety by actually opening the door is a plus. Or telling a delivery person who needs something from me to hang on while I trudge up from the far corner of the backyard is quite useful.
Would I choose Ring today if I were in the market? Probably not. But at the time, it was a reasonable option.
Do I think everyone needs some kind of recording device? Do I think they are an invasion of privacy? And now I say, hmmm.