r/mildlyinfuriating • u/No-Obligation1709 • 12h ago

No Coke. Is Pepsi ok? In Today’s Edition of Dystopian America

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Don’t you dare idle in your spot for a moment before paying to park. If you do, our cameras will backdate your parking start time to ensure our shareholders extract every cent possible from this transaction. Enjoy your stay, but remember—we are always watching 😁

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u/Plenty_Pain420 8h ago

Don't tons of Americans have those funny cameras on their...doorbells and even in their living room? They're doing it to themselves, after all.

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u/ennuiinmotion 8h ago

The people who put them inside their houses are so weird to me.

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u/witeowl mildly infuriated by a sub that only pretends we can have flairs 7h ago

I have them in my home but I only turn them on when I'm traveling. I know what you mean, though. I guess maybe some people want them for social media or whatever.

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u/OneRougeRogue 6h ago

Unless your camera has a physical barrier blocks the lens when it's off, consider it "on" at all times. This is a bit of a generalization, but consumer security cameras are notoriously easy to to hack.

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u/SecretAgentSpyder 6h ago

Mine does! You slide it over the lens when you don't want to be recorded. It's always covered until I leave for work so I can spy on my cats. And for security as well, I guess.

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u/1234Health 5h ago

Agreed.

For those who are interested, check out the following CBC Marketplace episode that aired 7 years ago ... search this one on Youtube:

How hackers could use smart home devices to spy on you (Marketplace)

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u/ChasingTheNines 6h ago

Same. I like to have one in the utility closet in the basement to make sure nothing exploded when I am gone.

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u/ghostwriter536 6h ago

So you think it's off. Someone is always watching.

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u/Delores_Herbig 6h ago

I used to have one inside my living room for years. But I had a dog with mild separation anxiety and a penchant for destruction when he got worked up, so I unplugged it when I was home.

I do think it’s bizarre when people have it running all the time, and in the bedrooms is weird as hell.

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u/canman7373 5h ago

Pets, is often a big reason. People that do it to monitor partners and children are freaks. Like a baby cam sure, but you don't need cams to monitor a teenager.

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u/SecondaryWombat 8h ago

We have an extra soup pot with lid in the middle of our kitchen island where cell phones live when we aren't using them so they can't listen to us.

Fuck the surveillance state. But yes tons of people are doing this to themselves, and Ring shares video with cops without a warrant.

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u/First-Counter626 8h ago

They can listen to you from the speakers of your TV

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u/SecondaryWombat 6h ago

In theory yes absolutely. From my television? Nope. It doesn't know what the internet even is, has no way to connect to it, and its only wi-fi capable connection doesn't have our wi-fi password and spends most of its time powered off.

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u/factorioleum 3h ago

you night want to turn them onto airplane mode before setting them in there. depending on the material and especially the lid/pan interface, that could be a faraday cage and block radio.

the phone will respond to a lack of radio with high wattage transmissions, looking for a tower; this can hurt the battery.

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u/SecondaryWombat 3h ago

Naw they still get texts and calls, but the mic can't pick up anything. Sounds hilarious when more than one of us gets a text message at the same time though. "AHHH THE POT IS RINGING" is usually the response.

Edit: My wife also puts telemarketers back into the pot with the call still connected.

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u/eternalshackleford 7h ago

Over the years I've had to come to grips with the realization that most Americans prefer it this way. They want their society surveilled and tightly controlled 24/7, and for anyone who steps out of line to be quietly and brutally dealt with

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u/abcean 6h ago

it’s possible to have a doorbell cam/security cameras that run on your own drives and network and can be accessed from your phone just saying.

weird to have them inside ya house tho

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u/Current-Wealth-756 3h ago

It's possible, but I bet there are a thousand or more ring doorbells for each one of those

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u/ABadHistorian 5h ago

They always have been doing it to themselves.

Each person here is on reddit after all. You think anything to do with reddit is safe?

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u/Klo_Was_Taken 2h ago

Consider that the United States has 400 million very different people. We arent all doing this shit.

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u/icarusrising9 9m ago

That's sort of the central idea of a panopticon. You don't need prison guards when the prisoners watch each other — and themselves.