I am really not sure about the headline for this thread. It is certainly related to Echo devices and your experience with them on a daily basis but it is also related to cameras.
I chose the “owners questions” section because I am particularly interested in Owners’ experiences but sitters’ experience is welcome too.
I started a new sit yesterday. Security cameras were listed so I first asked during the video chat if there were any indoor cameras I asked yesterday, at handover, where security cameras were and if there were any pet cameras indoors. In the WG, they said “An internet radio is available in the kitchen. You are welcome to use it and set up to listen to all your favourite stations”. The radio was on when they left. After a while, when I was looking for a place to plug in my power adapter I did see a pet camera switched off and later on, when I went to switch off the radio, I pressed a button that looked like an on/off button only to discover a message on the screen: “camera off”. So, that’s how I discovered that the radio in the kitchen was an Echo device and had the camera activated.
I really wondered if it comes naturally to those of you who use one of those devices to call it an internet radio. If that is the main use, would you have the camera activated too? Would you forget about it, when asked specifically if there is an indoor camera, because you just regard it as a radio?
I just don’t know how to interpret this situation because if they really wanted to watch me, I don’t think they would’ve left the radio on, so that at some point I would have to turn it off and realize the camera was connected.
On the other hand, they spent quite a lot of time explaining how the TV worked and even made me demostraste how I was able to surf the menu but no mention of the Echo device, with which I am not familiar at all.
Sorry. I just saw Alexa in the message and called it Alexa. It seems it’s an Echo device and yes, apart from the message, I saw the camera.
I’ll edit for clarity.
Yes, that Echo Show has a camera on the upper right and you should be able to cover the camera with the toggle on the upper right (should be a physical cover that blocks the lens).
I wouldn’t call that “internet radio.” That term sounds odd, like people who might not be tech savvy.
Some folks have their kids or someone else set gear up and don’t actually know what they have. I say that, because for example my husband and I would get my in-laws stuff and they barely knew how to use it — we’d set it up for what functions we thought they’d enjoy (like music) and they might not use all the features of a device. Don’t know whether that might be your hosts’ circumstances, of course.
This is not the case. They are youngish and don’t have any children. Of course, I can’t know if they are Tech savvy but one of them works from home, I guess he has some knowledge.
Regarding the camera, it has a physical button that covers it. That’s actually how I discovered it was on. When I slided it I got the message “camera off”. I have disconnected it from the power altogether.
They are really nice people, I don’t want to make a big deal of it I just would like to understand. I’m inclined to think that they just forgot.
If it’s out in the open and in the kitchen, I’d lean toward thinking that they forgot it. Even if it were used as a security device / camera, that doesn’t seem particularly effective. But if it makes you uncomfortable, maybe just mention it casually during a regular pet update and see what they say.
BTW, you can use that device to make video calls. So theoretically someone could use it for such and maybe forget and leave the camera on.
Check throughout house to identify any other devices that may have istening/watching functionality. If you are concerned about any devices then consider disconnect them from power supply and reconnect of housesit.
I have an Echo device with a camera. The camera is always off, even when we are here. I think our Echo only works for video calls, not to monitor the kitchen. We have ring indoor cameras that we remove and remove their batteries when we have sitters here. I also disclose the Echo device in my guide and give permission to unplug it if that makes them feel better.
We have a bunch of Echo devices and use them daily for music, timers, grocery lists, reminders, and to turn on/off the lights. An Echo isn’t recording audio unless it thinks it heard “Alexa”; then it’ll listen to the next couple seconds to see if an intelligible command follows. These voice snippets can be seen in the app if one were interested. I can’t speak for everyone, but I guarantee you sane people have far better things to do while on holiday than listen to what sitters are saying to Alexa! In any case we do point them out to sitters and tell them to unplug them if they want.
Echo Shows are the ones with screens and camera, and yes they’ll have a switch to physically block the camera. Even when it’s open, this doesn’t mean the camera is on and only means that it can be activated by voice/app/touchscreen/whatever. Whenever the camera is in use, even if it’s remotely turned on by the app, a green light will show next to it.
Echo Shows can be used for a bunch of other things beyond just video calls, so I’d wager these HOs rarely use it for video and as such forgot about it!
I’ve sat at a few places where they had tablets in the kitchen, for music, displaying photos, looking up recipes and such. They can do video calls, but so can practically any device nowadays. It didn’t give me a second’s pause.
The key thing it seems like the original poster was worried about was whether it was being used to potentially spy on a sitter, because of the camera message. Frankly, if someone wants to spy on you, they’d likely do it with a secret camera and audio, not with a tablet sitting in the open in the kitchen. And to really spy effectively, a camera needs to be able to swivel. Who’s going to stand in the kitchen in front of a static tablet and do something sketchy? And a host monitoring like that would be really odd.
What seemed odd to me was the term internet radio and the fact that so much time was spent explaining the use of the TV, which is pretty standard, and no mention of the Echo.
I would not feel comfortable with a camera that can be activated remotely any time they want. It doesn’t have to be “effective spying” or round the clock watching. I am not going to do anything that the HO would not approve of, but I value my privacy. This particular camera doesn’t need to swivel to catch everything that’s going on in the living area.
Strangely enough, there seem to be more posts on this thread taking the HOs perspective, which I also appreciate. Who’s going to waste their holidays watching?, the camera is just one of many functions and it doesn’t mean they’re going to use it, etc. I understand and even agree with all that but my personal perspective as a sitter is: I don’t want to have any indoor cameras of any sort, which, by the way, is THS policy.
If we assess hospitality considering how thoughtful a HO was leaving space in the fridge and having the house extra clean, I don’t see why switching off all cameras or at least disclosing them shouldn’t be part of that process of preparing the house for sitters.
Actually, I am quite relieved that most posters on this thread seem to find this completely natural. I now don’t feel the need to mention this in my review.
I have the feeling that if I had chosen to use the term camera in the headline, the result would have been different. I guess it has something to do with the tech age. Like I have recently seen lots of places (churches and such) with the old sign of “no cameras allowed” but everyone was taking pictures with the cellphone. It seems if it is the camera in the phone or an Echo it’s less of a camera.
If I were worried, I’d just turn off the camera. That’s different with a hidden camera, of course.
TV setups can vary a lot, because there are many combos of packages and access. Each of my hosts has offered to show me, but I never watch their TVs — I watch on my own accounts on my devices, which I can carry among rooms and indoors or out.
TVs and coffeemakers seem to be the most explained, from what I’ve experienced and read among sitters.
Yeah, there seems a lot of people that assume the worst here. I’d say it was an oversight.
I’ve a new car and I don’t have a clue what all the technology is. I sold sophisticated software for years I’m still likely to say “what, really? I had no idea” when getting a new device.
We have a car that’s a year old and we don’t know all its functions. Probably won’t use many of them ever. And the other day, I was sitting in our RV in our driveway while contractors do remodeling work and I had to ask my husband to help me figure out something we’ve never used in it before. Devices, cars and such are getting more advanced than many owners.
A few years ago we hired a car to get to Wales from Manchester. We got totally lost and we arrived hours late, totally stressed.
We pulled onto the driveway in a frazzled state amazed that we had not agreed on a divorce date when I spotted a button with a ‘world’ symbol next to the handbrake.
I pressed the button out of curiosity and a huge sat nav popped up out of the dashboard
We have a car that’s a year old and we don’t know all its functions. Probably won’t use many of them ever. And the other day, I was sitting in our RV in our driveway while contractors do remodeling work and I had to ask my husband to help me figure out something we’ve never used in it before. Devices, cars and such are getting more advanced than many owners.