Security camera privacy hack: smart plugs

Like many people who got excited by the idea of smart homes, I didn’t think much about privacy concerns up front. Over time, having a microphone in my house that just sends recordings to a big tech company like Google or Amazon became increasingly more of a concern. This concern only grew as I got into security cameras and settled on the Nest brand, which was made by Google.

Long term, the goal is to migrate slowly over to a smart home that runs locally. Ideally, the devices would all run on the local network only, and the data storage would happen on a local NAS. HomeKit and Home Assistant seem to offer options that can increase reliability, speed, and privacy.

As part of this shift, I realized I could make a simple adjustment to my security camera setup to increase my control over these devices without having to re-architect my entire smart home.

Smart Plugs

It might seem obvious in hindsight, but it only recently clicked for me. If I put my smart cameras on a smart plug, then I can use that smart plug to disconnect the camera with 100% certainty by turning it off. With the power cut to the camera, I have very high confidence that nothing is being broadcast outside my home.

At first, I thought I could just rely on the camera’s built-in on / off, or the built-in privacy curtains that some cameras come with. But ultimately all of these features are controlled by the servers that host the cameras, and thus could be controlled from there, or by someone who got access to your accounts.

For the smart plug, I used Hue smart plugs. They integrate with Google home effortlessly, they integrate well with home assistant, and they are super reliable.

The Dashboard

The next thing I did was set up a dashboard that let me have quick access to both the cameras' on/off capability, and the smart plug’s kill switch ability. In Google Home I just put those devices next to each other, but Home Assistant lets me make a much more practical setup, where I put the buttons right under the camera views.

I went one step further in home assistant and created an “All On” and “All Off” button. This made it one click to turn all the cameras in the house, or to kill the power to all of them at once for privacy.

Quick Access Button

The last thing I did was installed physical buttons around the house to quickly turn everything on or off with a single click. I used this hue button, since hue has been so easy to use and reliable.

I put one above the door to my apartment, that I can easily hit as I leave or enter the home. A single click turns on or off all cameras in the house. A double click on the button turns on the cameras in the front of the house.

I’ve got another one in the bedroom that lets me quickly turn on or off the bedroom cameras. I use this a lot when my daughter and her friends are playing in the back room, and we want to make sure there’s not too much mayhem.

Final Thoughts

I’d like to eventually get off google next products and move to something that’s more local and privacy forward. But that takes time. My family is pretty hooked on the Google Hub screen as the primary way to interact with the smart home, and If I change that, I’ll definitely hear about it. Until then, the smart plug kill switch is the easiest hack to guarantee privacy. This approach gives me the peace of mind that my cameras aren’t always watching, without needing to ditch the entire system. It’s a small change, but it makes a big difference.