Play live videos in third-party media players
Today, there are two basic ways to view the live feed of eufy Security Cameras. One is to use the eufy Security app, and the other is to use our secure web portal at eufy.com.
Previously, after logging into our secure web portal at eufy.com, a registered user could enter debug mode, use a web browser’s DevTool to locate a live stream, and then play or share that link with someone else to play outside of our secure system. However, it was the user’s choice to share this link, and they first had to login to the eufy web portal to get that link.
Today, based on industry feedback and rather than being very careful, the eufy Security web portal now prevents users from entering debug mode, and the code has been hardened and obfuscated. In addition, the content of the video streams is encrypted, which means that these video streams can no longer be played on third-party media players such as VLC.
However, I should note that only 0.1 percent of our current users use eufy.com’s secure web portal feature. Most of our users use the eufy Security app to view live broadcasts. Either way, the previous design of our web portal had some issues, which have since been resolved.
Regarding the PR representative who answered your question about using VLC, they mixed up the question. This was a known problem, easily replicated and reported by the media. However, they thought you were asking if people other than a registered user could discover the links themselves and then view them through a third party media player like VLC. The dynamic naming convention for video links has also been addressed in media coverage, so I can see how that might confuse them. But it wasn’t the official answer from our product teams. The real answer to this question has been covered above.
End-to-end video encryption
Today, all video (live and recorded) shared between a user’s device to the eufy Security web portal or eufy Security application uses end-to-end encryption, which is implemented using AES and RSA algorithms.
Additionally, when a user uses the eufy Security app to access videos from their device, the communication between the eufy Security app and the user’s device is end-to-end encrypted through a secure P2P service.
Homebase3 and eufyCam3/3C devices released in October 2022 use WebRTC for end-to-end encrypted communication when using the web portal to access live streams in a browser. We are rolling out WebRTC to all eufy Security devices at this time.
I should also note that if the user chooses to use the optional eufy Security cloud storage add-on, this process is end-to-end encrypted. In addition, the maintenance of our cloud server is in compliance with the requirements of ISO27701 and ISO27001 standards. We are also audited by third party regulators every year.
consumer privacy
When local storage is used, eufy Security cannot access our users’ video recordings. All video data is encrypted and stored on the device itself and can only be accessed or shared by the user. Furthermore, eufy Security cannot access user biometric details such as fingerprints or facial recognition data generated by users’ local devices. All these operations are also done and stored locally.
The user’s photo has been added to the cloud
Previously, we had one device, the Video Doorbell Dual, that sent the user’s photo and stored it in our secure cloud. There is a lot of speculation and misinformation about this, so let me explain how this seemingly inconsistent process came to be.
First, the purpose of sending a user’s photo from the eufy app to our device is to give the local facial recognition software a basis to run its algorithm on. All facial recognition always takes place locally on the user’s device. In the case of the Video Doorbell Dual, a copy of this setup image is stored using end-to-end encryption on our secure cloud. The reason was, in the event that a user decided to replace the Video Doorbell Dual or add an additional Video Doorbell Dual to their eufy security system, the system would pull the existing image from the cloud during setup, rather than having the user take a new one.
Again, this process was not compatible with our “local” task and was removed. Today, like all other devices in the eufy Security lineup, the Video Doorbell Dual relies on local storage only for user photos and video data. not the cloud.
It’s important to note that no facial or user recognition data is included with photos that are sent to the cloud.
“Typical beer trailblazer. Hipster-friendly web buff. Certified alcohol fanatic. Internetaholic. Infuriatingly humble zombie lover.”