Take Control of Home Security Cameras

Book excerpt: Make your home safer! Version 1.4.1, updated April 28, 2023 Are you thinking about installing a home security camera—or several? This book guides you through the many decisions about quality, features, privacy, and security that will help you find just what you want. Or do you own an existing system and want to swap out parts, expand it, or upgrade it? You’ll learn options for cameras you own and what interoperates. The book explains the role of Apple’s HomeKit Secure Video, and how to make its highest-level security work for you. In Take Control of Home Security Cameras, networking and security expert Glenn Fleishman shows you how to make smart choices about buying and configuring cameras that take into account technical details, video quality, system integration, your own privacy and that of others, and internet security. As you read this book, you'll: • Figure out which features are right for you • Configure your system securely to ensure that you and people you authorize are the only ones with access to live and stored video • Understand the different kinds of cloud-based storage of video, and which you might be comfortable with • Learn about Apple HomeKit Secure Video, an option available for the Apple ecosystem that lets you access video and control cameras from several manufacturers in a highly secure way from your iPhone, iPad, or Mac, including Logitech’s Circle View • Get to know features found in home security cameras, and how they affect the quality and nature of video you capture • Set your system so that alerts only appear for the kinds of motion, sound, or other triggers that meet your threshold • Avoid becoming part of the surveillance state—or opt into a limited and controlled part of it with a fuller understanding of what that means • Learn about the legal aspects and limits of recording audio and video, and how they might (or might not) help catch criminals