Very childish to disagree with my post when you haven’t given a single benefit to users that would make it worth prioritising this feature over others.
Denying use of stolen goods…now what is the benefit of that? I wonder.
Since you’ve let your ego get the better of you and reverted to name calling, what’s childish are your prior dismissive comments and an ego driven pursuit with that bloke, disguised as needing an explanation of the obvious .
If you disagree with this feature then simply don’t vote for it. Have a lovely day
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Jason, no ego here.
I stand by what I said. This feature doesn’t bring any benefit that makes it worth prioritising over other new features that could be added.
Whilst it may give you some satisfaction to deny a thief the use of your stolen camera that’s not a benefit that’s worth prioritising over others that have been suggested.
I’m not being dismissive here, show me a benefit of this feature that makes it worth adding over the others and I will gladly vote for it.
For Wyze outdoor products such as cameras and plug outdoor, possible Wyze should record the MAC address of equipment against your account in case it’s stolen. This would assist retrieving your equipment.
You can’t trace stolen equipment through a MAC address because routers don’t share them outside your local area network.
This is because doing so could make your hardware physically locatable to remote attackers which is a very bad thing.
Also MAC addresses aren’t always unique and can often be changed in the software so just aren’t a reliable way to trace or even identify stolen equipment.
I still agree with you that the whole idea is bad, but in truth the cameras are perfectly capable of reporting their own MAC address whenever they phone home to Wyze servers, which they do frequently. (They may already log the MAC or another unique ID.)
That service is available for Intel based platforms but the annual subscription cost more then a Wyze camera. Further, once it was exploited, the hack gave core access to the attacker.
A similar service is available for Garmin map products. Once you register your device to get updates and warranty you can also report it stolen. Once you submit a police report with the DR number, Garmin will supposedly prevent the theif from getting map and f/w updates.
Not only is this a lot of work but what does the thief care?
These products fall into obsolescence so quickly it is hardly worth the bother. Any means of protection is also an avenue to brick your device. Most stolen goods are not of any use to the thief, they just do it because they can.
I don’t see how anyone can think it’s a good idea after that.
Hello HDRock. How do you access the cloud recorded events after the camera is stolen?
You just start your Wyze app as usual and check the Events tab as usual.
Wouldn’t be nice if your stolen Wyze Cam could be bricked (disabled) if stolen?
Samsung has just done this to a lot of stolen smart TV’s stolen from a warehouse.
Samsung Bricks stolen Smart TV’s
@bryonhu is you want, they can. @mods, mergy this with the above linked wishlist? Tia!
Just a tidbit of updated info…
Since this was posted, the events now stay with the account once uploaded, they do not get deleted if the camera moves accounts.
Prevent Stolen Camera Activation
Once a camera is stolen it can be activated by the thief and the owner loses all the data on it. The owner will not be able to view who stole the camera. Thieves know this about Wyze cameras making them a great camera to steel.
Engineers should create a protocol allowing owners to log in to activate owned cameras. Once a camera is added to an account a code to manage/activate/control the camera should be created by the owner. This would prevent a thief from activating a stolen camera.
For example, once I purchase a camera, I would enable a security feature that required a special code to manage my camera. The feature would be accessed within my Wyze account. If my camera were stolen no one would be able to activate or manage it. I could access the footage of the camera being stolen. I could file a police report with this.
Right now the only wyze cam that can’t be used if stolen Is the wireless outdoor camera, the only way the camera can be used is the base/hub must be deleted from the owners account/app
The base/hub does not have to be deleted , all you have to do is delete the camera from your account and anyone can set that camera up on their account.
Just threw a vote on this myself. I’m coming from the Blink mindset, where a camera can not be added to another account until it is removed from the account it is attached to and that seems to be the ideal solution.
Voted.
Sounds like a good idea.
I have read thru the posts and there seems to be equal ground on both sides of the fence on this one:
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Good feature to have if someone steals a cam, then they just have a brick. Also good to have so a bad actor with cam access can’t just hijack a cam.
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Bad feature to have in domestic disputes because the one with the cam can’t use it because the other with the account won’t release it. Some bad Karma there.
There are probably other situations as well on both sides of the feature. Are there ways to develop the feature so that it works on both sides?
Possible feature enhancements:
If someone stole my cams, I would actually want them to try to install it. The cam has a MAC address that is logged to Wyze when installed on an account that corresponds to the ISP IP on which it is installed. Wyze has this data.
I would like to see a feature within Wyze to report\flag a cam as stolen. It would work like this: I would get an email\SMS\Push notification\in App popup\App Message if any install is attempted for any of my cams on another account. This would require me to confirm “Yes, this is fine, please release the cam from my account” or “No, Flag for immediate legal action”. If I don’t respond within X time, it releases on its own. Flagging it would require me to enter a description of the reason and would issue me a flag number to pass on to law enforcement or lawyer. I would then have an extended X time to have law enforcement or a lawyer contact Wyze for action.
I could then relay this flag number to law enforcement who could then use the proper legal channels to contact Wyze and identify the IP location and take proper action.
I realize this feature has some deep legal considerations and I haven’t begun to see all the angles from my perspective. Maybe there are lawyers and law enforcement in the forums that could ring in.
Perhaps it is just food for thought that can help to develop the feature to work for both sides of the fence.
Was very surprised to learn this was not yet a feature. Think this should be a standard feature with all cameras and smart home devices. Thief’s learn that it is not worth their time, and that they have a higher risk of being caught. I mean heck Ring used to offer free replacement with police report if your camera was stolen. As device would be bricked an thief’s would likely be caught on video. Amazon echos are attached to your account as soon as you place the order through Amazon so even if they are stolen off your doorstep upon delivery they will not be able to be set up. An no person in their right mind would steal apple products. Soon thief’s will learn that Wyze cameras are free game. Then again why would wyze be concerned, as it would likely mean an extra sale for them