by what you need to know
- Eufy has begun removing and changing the wording of its own privacy and security policies from its website.
- The company is yet to fully address the security issues that were identified over two weeks ago.
- Eufy previously had camera footage data breaches in May 2021, further compounding issues with the company’s products.
Over the past month, Eufy has gone from being a favorite brand of many tech sites and mainstream outlets – including Android Central – to a brand whose trust has evaporated almost overnight. After the events of late November (opens in new tab) and similar issues of the previous year, Android Central switched to an official “Do Not Recommend” stance (opens in new tab) on Eufy products.
We’re now expanding this into a warning that Eufy users should remove any Eufy cameras they have set up on their premises. We have a list of the best Eufy camera alternatives (opens in new tab) if you want to replace them with something more reputable, including recommendations for price, local storage, and object detection requirements.
Why has the recommendation changed? It has emerged that Eufy has started removing security and privacy promises from its own website instead of actually addressing the issues being leveled at the company’s products (per The Verge (opens in new tab)). When you view the company’s website on archive.org (opens in new tab) and then compare it to the current Eufy Privacy Commitment (opens in new tab) page you will notice that several parts of the site have changed. Here’s a collection of all the major changes we found:
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Of the many changes to Eufy’s privacy policy, we found these three to be the most abhorrent. Some of the wording in many of the company’s policies appears to have been changed to improve clarity, but these three examples are direct policy changes, not just clarifications.
Additionally, Eufy has completely removed its policy on sharing footage with law enforcement.
As Eufy has started to change its promises and rescind company policies, Android Central is officially recommending Eufy users to turn off their Eufy cameras as soon as possible. The company has not responded to Android Central’s inquiries since the first incidents in November, which are already raising red flags about Eufy’s behavior.
In addition, changing important terms of use or privacy and security obligations completely undermines the remaining confidence in the company’s products. While these policy changes don’t bother you right now, there’s no telling what else Eufy will roll back or what it might change in the future.
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