this post was submitted on 06 Oct 2025

909 points (99.2% liked)

A Boring Dystopia

14387 readers

574 users here now

Pictures, Videos, Articles showing just how boring it is to live in a dystopic society, or with signs of a dystopic society.

Rules (Subject to Change)

--Be a Decent Human Being

--Posting news articles: include the source name and exact title from article in your post title

--If a picture is just a screenshot of an article, link the article

--If a video's content isn't clear from title, write a short summary so people know what it's about.

--Posts must have something to do with the topic

--Zero tolerance for Racism/Sexism/Ableism/etc.

--No NSFW content

--Abide by the rules of lemmy.world

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

givesomefucks@lemmy.world

909

Big Brother just got an upgrade. Starting December, Amazon’s Ring cameras will scan and recognize faces. Don’t want to be in their database? Too bad — walk past a Ring and your face can be stored... (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 month ago by jimmydoreisalefty@lemmy.world to c/aboringdystopia@lemmy.world

176 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Jason Bassler | @JasonBassler1

Big Brother just got an upgrade.

Starting December, Amazon’s Ring cameras will scan and recognize faces. Don’t want to be in their database? Too bad — walk past a Ring and your face can be stored, tagged, & analyzed without consent.

One step closer to total surveillance.

[Image: A Ring doorbell camera mounted on a brick wall. A digital overlay shows facial recognition scanning a person's face with grid lines. Text on the right reads "Amazon's Ring Adds Facial Recognition to Home Security" with additional text below.]

6:00 PM | Oct 4, 2025

Source: https://x.com/JasonBassler1/status/1974640686419857516

top 50 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old

[–] Naich@lemmings.world 158 points 1 month ago (8 children)

This feels like it should be illegal in the EU.

[–] stoy@lemmy.zip 107 points 1 month ago (7 children)

Swede here, our laws disallow private security cameras from filming public areas.

The law is so broad that it interfered with dashcams, disallowing them for years.

[–] Dave@lemmy.nz 14 points 1 month ago (1 children)

That's really interesting. Is it specifically security cameras?

Can you generally take videos of people in public places? Photos?

[–] stoy@lemmy.zip 50 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Normal cameras and video cameras are fine, the key point is that the camera should not be fixed for continuous monitoring of public spaces.

Dashcams were a grey area, most are fixed mounted to a car with the capability to continously record so at first only cameras you manually place and trigger when about to drive were permitted, then the law was loosened further, and now I believe they are permitted.

Now here we have an interesting fact about the Swedish court system, you can present any evidence regardless of if it was collected through legal or illegal means, and the court will decide on if they will accept it or not.

The illegal part only comes into play in a separate case where you have to stand trial for whatever illegal act you did.

[–] Dave@lemmy.nz 13 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (5 children)

I found this page explaining that it's not that it's illegal (necessarily, keep reading), but that there is a GDPR exemption for private property and if you're filming areas the public access then you need to comply with GDPR. The page says for dashcams you need to comply with GDPR as well.

This page says it's generally not allowed to record, but if you read the Swedish version it has a flow chart (that I can't read 😅).

What most interests me is that it keeps referring to the GDPR as the reason why you can't record public areas (or your neighbours). I'm not in Europe and don't know much about the GDPR but why is Sweden special with these rules, why aren't all countries in the European Union limiting the use of security cameras on public areas?

[–] Wrufieotnak@feddit.org 13 points 1 month ago

Can't speak for other countries, but Sweden's rules sound similar to Germany's. You are allowed to monitor your own ground, but not public ground without good reason. Which makes cameras like Ring not explicitly forbidden, but you are not allowed to place them in a way which would monitor the street for example.

And regarding your question in the other comment: in Germany you are allowed to take pictures in public spaces, but you are not allowed to publish them when people are the main focus and identifiable. So you take a picture of Neuschwanstein and some random people are small in the foreground? Not important, so you are free to upload it to your internet blog. But if you film a couple having an argument in front of Neuschwanstein, then you are not allowed to upload it, because the focus is on the couple. You would need to anonymize their faces and voices.

And why is it not all countries? Because they didn't see it as necessary to have same rules everywhere in EU, probably due to different values, making it hard to getting a compromise. Or that it wasn't seen as important enough to bother establishing the same rule everywhere.

load more comments (4 replies)

load more comments (1 replies)

[–] jpeps@lemmy.world 9 points 1 month ago

I wish we had more protection in the UK. Technically the law allows filming public property as long as it is not the direct focus, eg you film your front door and catch some of the street. But it's not policed at all. Living on a terraced main road I cant leave my house without being filmed by at least 5 different neighbour's cameras from a range of different American or Chinese companies. One camera literally just points towards a window of my own home. It's insane, I feel like they're all just standing outside watching me.

Technically, I have the right to ask to see the footage they record and ask for adjustments to angles etc, but it's left to individuals to do. I'd have to have an awkward individual conversation with a bunch of strangers (sad but true) about something I doubt they even consider an issue.

I'd love to see some legislation that would require some publically accessible way to review what's in camera for doorbell cams, but I guess that would just be seen as helping criminals.

load more comments (5 replies)

[–] SynonymousStoat@lemmy.world 11 points 1 month ago

I believe this is also illegal in some US States. I know of at least a couple that don't allow biometric data to be stored without concent; I think Facebook even lost a case in one state and had to pay a pretty large sum of money.

load more comments (6 replies)

[–] psx_crab@lemmy.zip 47 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I went to my sister's house yesterday, she lived in a gated community and to visit i have to let them take a picture of my face and then scan the cam for access. i thought that's extremely obnoxious. This is far worst.

[–] xxce2AAb@feddit.dk 37 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Yeah, no. I'd be inviting my sister to visit me instead.

[–] jaybone@lemmy.zip 18 points 1 month ago (6 children)

Yeah this has to be super inconvenient for the residents. I imagine many delivery services, DoorDash, instacart, will refuse to do this bullshit. Forcing the resident to meet them at the gate, or just not receive service at all. I would be pressuring my HOA to end this policy.

load more comments (6 replies)

load more comments (1 replies)

[–] stinky@redlemmy.com 46 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Everyone is so obsessed with surveillance. My uncle has a Ring and even if I told him about this, he wouldn't care; he wants to know who walks past his house. Now the cops will know whether he lied to them because they can subpoena Ring for their records. People are literally giving away their rights for the convenience of not answering the fucking door

[–] BlameTheAntifa@lemmy.world 19 points 1 month ago (1 children)

The depressing part is that even if you don’t own or use Ring, you will be in their database because those cameras are everywhere. The populace has completely given up all their privacy and have done it willingly.

[–] village604@adultswim.fan 15 points 1 month ago

Not only willingly, they've fucking paid for it.

[–] Zetta@mander.xyz 10 points 1 month ago

The depressing part is local self hosted alternatives exist like Ubiquiti unifi, all their cameras store locally to a hard drive on your property with all local processing.

[–] roofuskit@lemmy.world 38 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Not in Illinois it won't. The states attorney will have Amazon for lunch.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biometric_Information_Privacy_Act

[–] lauha@lemmy.world 33 points 1 month ago

In EU this is also illegal

[–] Confused_Emus@lemmy.dbzer0.com 32 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Great, my downstairs neighbor has one of these things that everyone has to walk by when going in or out of the main building. Why she needs one in an apartment building with a locked main door that you have to unlock yourself for guests is a mystery to me.

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 15 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (8 children)

Simple - Because she doesn't trust the strangers living in the building any more than the strangers on the outside. I don't blame her one bit. In my lifetime, I've seen countless stories of women being raped and/or murdered by other tenants and the complex 's own security.

In the olden days, before electricity, I used to be friendly with a neighbor, and she became convinced that someone was sneaking into her apartment when she was at work, and stealing her underwear and prescription meds. She took a day off because she was under the weather, and one of the maintenance guys, who was always overly-friendly, unlocked her door, and walked right in.

It turned out that he'd been warned about this before, and he was fired. But if she, or other neighbors, had Ring cameras, they would have caught on to him immediately.

[–] IzzyScissor@lemmy.world 18 points 1 month ago (1 children)

A camera inside her apartment would have the same results without invading the privacy of every other tenant in the building.

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 12 points 1 month ago (3 children)

In that specific case, but most people want to identify people BEFORE they enter their promises. I'm not opening my door to any cops, for instance, unless they can slide a warrant under the door.

You are missing the point entirely. There are about a million reasonable reasons someone would want to have a doorbell camera, and they have every right to them. The owner of the camera isn't violating your privacy, AMAZON is doing that by collecting the data from a privately-owned source who hasn't given permission to hijack data from their device.

Don't be mad at the tenant for protecting their safety, be mad at Amazon for exploiting that reasonable fear, encouraging people to get Ring cameras, and then stealing the data they collect.

[–] stickly@lemmy.world 16 points 1 month ago (5 children)

Is it too much to ask for a doorbell camera to operate like a doorbell? We've had peepholes on doors that can be opened and checked when needed for years with no problem, why do we suddenly need constant surveillance of the public commons? This is also on the owner for buying into the scare tactics.

IMO it should be flat out illegal to have any permanent camera that monitors a public space. I don't consent to have a stalker track when I enter and leave my home, I won't consent to have a neighbor do the same.

load more comments (5 replies)

load more comments (2 replies)

[–] groet@feddit.org 17 points 1 month ago (2 children)

In the olden days, before electricity, I used to ...

Are you like 200 years old?

load more comments (2 replies)

[–] Confused_Emus@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 1 month ago

Fair enough. My downstairs neighbor can get a doorbell cam that records locally then.

load more comments (5 replies)

[–] nonentity@sh.itjust.works 27 points 1 month ago (5 children)

Need to normalise IR and UV LED strobe flares, blind those CCDs.

[–] Zetta@mander.xyz 9 points 1 month ago

UV??? That'll just damage our eyes, please don't encourage that. IR, 100%

load more comments (4 replies)

[–] WoodScientist@lemmy.world 25 points 1 month ago (1 children)

We need to normalize spray painting the lenses on these things, as well as painting "big brother" on doorways of those that own them. If you enable fascism, you should expect some minor vandalism.

[–] LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world 29 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (4 children)

You could start by sending them a letter that informs them of this occuring and how it impacts the world around them before you skip straight to vandalism. I'm sure a lot of people just never considered the extent of that data that is being shared so much as they figured only they would have access to the footage.

load more comments (4 replies)

[–] moseschrute@lemmy.world 24 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (3 children)

I’m very happy with my ubiquiti doorbell. It records to a local NVR on my network. No cloud for this guy!

[–] raid_dad@lemmy.world 16 points 1 month ago (4 children)

I’ve been telling anyone that will listen about my ubiquiti setup. Storing the video data locally is the only scenario that I’m comfortable with. I can still remotely log into my network and check camera footage, but no one else has access to it.

load more comments (4 replies)

load more comments (2 replies)

[–] xxce2AAb@feddit.dk 23 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Like I needed more reasons to never leave the fucking house.

[–] primrosepathspeedrun@anarchist.nexus 9 points 1 month ago

Wear your balaclava, get your spray paints

[–] rainbowbunny@slrpnk.net 23 points 1 month ago (1 children)

And you're always seen as a "weirdo" or "crazy" or maybe even a thief if you want to opt out with a mask.

load more comments (1 replies)

[–] primrosepathspeedrun@anarchist.nexus 22 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

Set anything with a ring camera on it on fire. It is the enemy.

load more comments (2 replies)

[–] michaelmrose@lemmy.world 20 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Given any large database this is going to be a massive problem.

Did someone steal your package?

Do you want to know who did it?

Will you settle for knowing which of the 385 people in the country look like your villain? Some of them may even be close enough to be falsely accused!

load more comments (2 replies)

[–] Aljernon@lemmy.today 18 points 1 month ago (4 children)

We need an anti-camera movement in this country

load more comments (4 replies)

[–] xia@lemmy.sdf.org 18 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I don't know if it is the same brand, but my morning walks are cheered on by an increasing chorus/wave of "hello, you are currently being recorded". Weird dystopian vibes.

load more comments (1 replies)

[–] Gammelfisch@lemmy.world 15 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Americans are fucking weird, they piss and moan about speed and red light cameras, and claim they are unconstitutional. However, the Ring shit is good to go.

[–] shininghero@pawb.social 9 points 1 month ago (7 children)

Ring cameras don't toss a fine at you for walking past them too quickly.

Also, where are people complaining about red light cameras, so I can avoid taking my bike or car anywhere near there? It's probably a vocal minority, but I'd prefer to know and cover my ass. Just in case.

load more comments (7 replies)

[–] P00ptart@lemmy.world 13 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Ran into this one Halloween a few years ago. Fuckers had Halloween decorations out, seeming welcoming, and when my kid went up to the door they used their ring camera to make fun of him. Once society falls in the next year or two, that's where I'm going first.

load more comments (1 replies)

[–] AcidiclyBasicGlitch@sh.itjust.works 12 points 1 month ago (1 children)

So what happens to images of your face when they're stored? Who tf really knows. We do know these oligarchs will literally try to exploit and profit from literally anything and everything they get access to.

Some countries that aren't treated like a state run corporation are actually letting citizens copyright their own faces for their protection.

Dutch MPs want citizens to own the copyright to their faces

load more comments (1 replies)

[–] LaunchesKayaks@lemmy.world 10 points 1 month ago (1 children)

My parents have one of these. 💀

Guess I'll be going into their place through the garage lmao

load more comments (1 replies)

[–] desmosthenes@lemmy.world 10 points 1 month ago

walk fast, carry stickers

[–] Defectus@lemmy.world 10 points 1 month ago (17 children)

This isn't legal where I live. It's not allowed to record public spaces

load more comments (17 replies)

[–] FalseTautology@lemmy.zip 9 points 1 month ago (6 children)

Can't we make necklaces of intense IR radiation that block out our faces? Or does that not work anymore?

load more comments (6 replies)

load more comments