How to Use a Video Doorbell Without Feeding the Surveillance State

Video doorbells are handy, but they’re a threat to privacy. I spoke to experts about why you might ditch your doorbell, and how to safeguard your video.

Maybe you bought a video doorbell to make sure you don’t miss the pizza arriving or to avoid getting out of bed for door-to-door sales reps. What you didn’t bank on was that your home security system might be turned into a tool of the surveillance state. Video doorbells have been in the news a lot lately, from Ring’s creepy Super Bowl ad to the retrieval of Nest doorbell footage in the Nancy Guthrie case, and people are beginning to ask: Where is my video going, who might use it, and for what?