Facepalm: Shopper Stories delivers investigative stories and assessments mass-manufactured merchandise, offering recommendation and documentation on how customers can defend their rights. The newest CR report focuses on doorbell cameras, and the findings could not be worse.
Shopper Stories investigated cheap doorbell cameras, revealing that they’re suffering from “horrible” safety practices and are primarily all produced by the identical Chinese language firm. These units are being offered on digital marketplaces comparable to Amazon, Walmart, Temu, and others, they usually have confirmed to be a extremely in style product class.
CR examined video doorbells made by Eken and Tuck, discovering that they look like the identical product offered below totally different model names. These two “sensible” cameras, together with “not less than” 10 extra an identical video doorbells, are manufactured by the Shenzhen-based firm Eken Group, and they are often managed by a standard cell app (Aiwit), which was additionally developed by Eken.
The patron group discovered a big variety of safety vulnerabilities with the doorbells. Main flaws embrace the unencrypted publicity of a person’s residence IP handle and Wi-Fi community identify (SSID) over the web, the flexibility for malicious actors to take over the units by downloading the Aiwit app and coming into pairing mode, and unauthenticated distant entry to nonetheless pictures and video feeds of personal dwellings.
The insecure cameras additionally lack a correct license plate, which, in response to FCC laws, have to be seen on this class of merchandise. Regardless of being thought of second-rate merchandise within the video doorbell market, Eken cameras are “comparatively sturdy sellers” on on-line marketplaces. CR states that a number of listings on Amazon generated greater than 4,200 gross sales in January 2024 alone.
CR’s director of tech coverage, Justin Brookman, highlighted how each producers and retail platforms are accountable for merchandise that may hurt customers. Main ecommerce platforms have to do a greater job of “vetting sellers and merchandise” offered by means of their channels, Brookman mentioned, and it has now turn out to be clear that new guidelines are required for holding on-line retailers accountable.
CR requested Eken Group some questions on its video doorbells, however the firm did not present any reply. The group additionally reached out to on-line retailers, sharing the safety vulnerabilities it discovered within the units. Temu mentioned that each one the doorbells utilizing the Aiwit platform had been faraway from its web site, whereas Walmart solely promised to take action. Amazon, Sears, and different retailers did not present any solutions.