The do’s and don’ts of using home security cameras that see everything

By H eather K elly The Washington Post

Private cameras are supposed to make people feel safer. The small internet-connected devices can be mounted outside your home to deter or record potential criminals, or inside to keep an eye on pets or elderly parents.

Those same cameras can also put the people who own them at risk. They’re vulnerable to hacks and can collect personal data, and their sensitive footage can be mishandled by companies or their employees.

Garden Notes

SPRINGFIELD Garden, koi pond tour

The Pioneer Valley Water Garden & Koi Club will host its 28th annual pond tour on Saturday, and Sunday, June 24 and 25, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. both days (rain or shine). This self-guided tour will allow visitors to see nine backyard ponds in Hampden and Hampshire counties in Massachusetts and in Northern Connecticut at their own pace for just $20 per car. Tickets are sold online at pioneervalleykoipond.club. Purchasers will be sent a link to locations, descriptions, and photographs of all the ponds for this year’s tour.

STOCKBRIDGE Field study

Berkshire Botanical Garden presents “Sleepy Cat Farm Field Study,” an off-site program, on June 23 from 10 a.m. to noon. Attendees are invited to explore Sleepy Cat Farm in Greenwich, Conn. Sleepy Cat Farm is the vision of one man, Fred Landman, who acquired the Georgian Revival house and grounds in 1994. The landscape unfolds in a series of garden rooms. Hillsides and vistas change daily, monthly, almost minute by minute, in this undu- lating landscape of surprises, intrigue and unexpected beauty. Evocative names add to the atmosphere, including the Golden Path, the Grotto, the Iris Garden, the Spirit Walk, the Perennial Long Border Garden, the Pebble Terrace, the Woodland Walk. Buildings and follies were added, also with storybook names — the Celestial Pavilion, the Barn, the Limonaia, the Chinese Pavilion, the Cat Maze and Arbor. Down the hill from the main house is an organic farm that supplies produce to the community, a project of Landman’s wife, Seen Lippert, a professional chef who worked with Alice Waters. Transportation from BBG for an additional $10 fee is available for a limited number of participants. Cost is $50 members, $55 nonmembers. For more information or to register, visit berkshirebotanical.org.

Send items for Garden Notes to pmastriano@repub.com two weeks prior to publication.

The Federal Trade Commission recently asserted that the camera maker Ring allowed employees to access videos of customers and failed to use adequate security measures to protect the cameras against hacking. Amazon bought the company in 2018, and most of the problems took place before the acquisition. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.)

“Ring promptly addressed these issues on its own years ago, well before the FTC began its inquiry,” Ring spokeswoman Emma Daniels said in a statement. “While we disagree with the FTC’s allegations and deny violating the law, this settlement resolves this matter so we can focus on innovating on behalf of our customers.”

The safest option is not to install cameras at all. But if you want to use them, here are steps you can take to do it safely.

What to look for before you buy a camera

On Amazon alone, there are more than 40 brands of home security cameras from which to choose. Try to use a brand that is reputable and is owned by a company you’ve heard of or can easily research. The biggest players are associated with names you know, among them Nest (Google), Ring or Blink (Amazon), and product lines from Panasonic and General Electric. Other players include Arlo, SimpliSafe, Wyze Labs and Anker’s Eufy. Beware of unknown brands. You can find many cheap, oddly named knockoff cam- eras, but these will carry the biggest security risks. Something like Ring may have had more high-profile issues, but it also has the budget, backing and motivation to remedy problems properly.

“No company is going to have a perfect track record, but you want someone who is vetted and is going to take the issue seriously,” says Jake Laperruque, the deputy director of the Center for Democracy and Technology’s Security and Surveillance Project.