I couldn’t find a post in this community about cameras so I figured I’d make one. Requirements:

  • No “sign up” required to record video
  • Video is stored locally
  • Video is in a non-propriatary format
  • Can work offline

Optional/Discussion Points:

  • Can wireless connectivity be hardware disabled
  • Can auto-update be disabled
  • Does the device try to “phone home” if it is connected to wifi
  • Disk encryption would be nice but I doubt that’ll be an option for anything other than self-hosted stuff

Does anyone know about Lorex (it seems more privacy centered)?

I’m highly technical, so feel free to mention self hosted raspberry pi soltuions as well.

Your options will depend on how much effort you are willing to put in and what other services you have access to (or are willing to run).

For example, do you have a Network Video Recorder (NVR) or something like Home Assistant that can consume a Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP) or Real Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) video feed? Can you modify your network to block all internet traffic to/from the doorbell? Are you comfortable using a closed source, proprietary app to setup the doorbell? Is creating your own doorbell feasible?

I’m not aware of a doorbell that you can buy which meets all of your requirements without at least one of the items I mentioned above. Additionally, I believe the only doorbell that meets all your requirements is building your own doorbell. However, some other brands that will get close to meeting your requirements are Reolink and Amcrest.

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A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.

Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.

In this community everyone is welcome to post links and discuss topics related to privacy.

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