Two weeks after getting caught lying to The Verge, Anker still hasn’t sent us any answers about its security cameras. Instead, it’s nerfed the Eufy “privacy commitment.”
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It’s been two weeks since we reported that Anker’s Eufy lied to us about the security of its security cameras, and we’ve been pushing the company for answers ever since. But the company hasn’t answered a single one of our questions — in fact, I haven’t gotten a single reply since December 1st.
Today, on a whim, I thought I’d take a peek at Eufy’s website… maybe find some answers there? Instead, I found that Anker has quietly scrubbed all of its most promising privacy promises from its “privacy commitment” page. It got nerfed — hard.
Here are 10 things that were written on Eufy’s privacy commitment page as of December 8th, 2022, that are no longer there today:
- “To start, we’re taking every step imaginable to ensure your data remains private, with you.”
- “[Y]our recorded footage will be kept private. Stored locally. With military-grade encryption. And transmitted to you, and only you.”
- “Here at eufy, we’re not just all talk and no action.”
- “With secure local storage, your private data never leaves the safety of your home, and is accessible by you alone.”
- “All recorded footage is encrypted on-device and sent straight to your phone—and only you have the key to decrypt and watch the footage. Data during transmission is encrypted.”
- “There is no online link available to any video.”
- “You need to use Eufy software and your account to decrypt the clips for viewing. No one else can access or read this data.”
- “For Your Eyes Only”
- “Peeking Prohibited”
- “Everything In-House”
There’s an 11th item missing, too. It’s a little long, but I think it’s an important one:
Does eufy share video recordings with law enforcement agencies?
In response to legal requests from law enforcement agencies, we will not, without the customer’s consent, disclose video recordings unless it is necessary to comply with the law or if there is an emergency involving imminent danger of death or serious physical injury to a person. We object to overbroad or otherwise inappropriate demands as a matter of course. Unless prohibited from doing so or eufy has clear indication of illegal conduct in connection with the use of eufy products or services, eufy notifies customers before disclosing content information.
It’s not all deletions, mind you. Anker also makes it clearer that customers can access footage through a web portal and that you can “choose to store” your video clips in the cloud. It also promises that “your video recordings will not be viewed, shared, or used by eufy for any other purpose” beyond troubleshooting. Anker also now says that “Your video can not be accessed or shared by anyone without access to your account.”
We’ve heard from a tipster that Eufy’s customer support agents (here’s their email) are indeed trying to answer questions like “why the heck could The Verge access a stream through VLC,” and I’d love to have copies of those answers if you manage to get them! (I’m at sean@theverge.com.)
Because Anker’s PR department, I’m afraid, isn’t sending them to me.
wazup.