As security cameras move from the front porch into the living room, they're raising new questions about privacy, protection, and what it really means to keep a home safe.
It used to be enough to have a security camera watching the front door. Now we can have one that follows us around the living room.
On Oct. 7, Amazon-owned Ring introduced five new security cameras, including its first 4K indoor model and a camera that pans a full 360 degrees and automatically follows movement around a room.
We no longer use cameras just to discourage break-ins. We check whether packages arrived, keep an eye on the dog, make sure the kids got home from school, and check on aging parents. According to SafeHome.org's 2026 report, 61 percent of U.S. households now have at least one security camera, up from 52 percent in 2024. And more of them are moving inside: about 30 percent of homes now have indoor cameras.
Are We Actually Safer?
With that many cameras watching, you'd think we'd all be a lot safer. The answer is a little more complicated.
Burglaries fell an estimated 15.8 percent in 2025, according to the FBI, but the national numbers don't tell us how much credit cameras deserve. And catching something on camera doesn't mean the person responsible will be caught. Law enforcement cleared just 17.4 percent of reported property crimes last year.
The Digital Front Door
Meanwhile, there's another threat we may be overlooking. A 2025 report from cybersecurity companies Bitdefender and NETGEAR examined more than 6 million connected homes and found the average household faced about 29 attempted cyberattacks every day.
Twenty-nine. Every day.
Most are automated, with software constantly scanning for weak spots in connected devices like TVs, doorbells, thermostats, and cameras. And 99.4 percent targeted flaws that already had fixes available. Many of these weak spots could be closed with a simple software update.
Most of us would never ignore someone rattling the front door all day long. Online, it's happening constantly, and the fix is often an update we haven't bothered to install.
When the Camera Becomes the Way In
When that device is a camera, a breach becomes very personal. In 2023, the Federal Trade Commission accused Ring of failing to protect customer accounts, saying about 55,000 were compromised. In some cases, hackers used the cameras' speakers to harass people inside their own homes. One was an 87-year-old woman in an assisted living facility who was harassed and threatened through a hacked camera. Ring disputed the allegations but settled, and says it has since added protections like two-step verification and new video encryption. Those are welcome improvements, but no internet-connected device is risk-free.
Jonathan Haidt makes a related point in The Anxious Generation. We've become intensely protective of our children in the physical world, yet far less careful about what reaches them online. We’d never let a stranger walk into our living room and hang out with our kids. But through their screens, that’s often exactly what’s happening.
I think we're doing something similar with our homes. We're so focused on who might get through the front door that we're overlooking who might be getting in through our cameras.
I'm not suggesting we get rid of our security cameras. They can be incredibly useful. But we need to be more intentional with them. There's nothing wrong with wanting to protect our homes and the people in them. But somewhere in the rush to stay safe and connected, we unlocked doors we didn't even know were there.
InSight Out News Roundup
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Catch the video discussion on smart cameras and privacy, plus two other headlines we're tracking:
- AI & Family Photos: Why ordinary vacation pictures are being scraped—and the 30-day challenge every parent should consider
- Ballot Fine Print: What you need to know about confusing local amendments and bond questions before you cast your vote
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