Start here
The free tool below runs entirely in this browser — no account, nothing stored or transmitted. Redact anything you would not want kept before you type it.
Open the companion tool →Why retention is the number that matters
A doorbell with AI features is a networked camera with a cloud account, and the defaults usually favor long retention and broad sharing — with law-enforcement request policies, household members, and the vendor's own systems all in the access list.
The two checkable numbers are retention and access: how long footage lives, and who can see it. Both are usually adjustable in settings, and shortening them costs nothing.
The protocol
- Review the device's footage, retention, and sharing terms.
- Read the retention-and-sharing basis: access list and duration.
- Open settings and shorten retention to the minimum you actually need.
- Review who has access — household members, shared users, and vendor defaults — and trim it.
What the tool does
Review a smart-home device's footage terms and get a retention-and-sharing reading. It runs in this browser; nothing is sent or stored.
Limit first: This is a settings-reading aid, not security software and not a guarantee about any device's behavior. Verify against the current terms and settings.
Open the companion tool →One human next step
Shorten retention and trim access in the device settings. If footage has been shared beyond what you agreed, file with the FTC.
Research log and safety checks
AI-assist path: not applicable — the artifact is a settings-and-terms checklist over the vendor's disclosure; a model paraphrase would obscure the exact numbers the reader needs. §6.10: not a frontier-pace topic.
§0.5 protection result: category is data-privacy-exposure; crisis-adjacent: no; fear/urgency/scarcity toolkit used: no. The protective function is free and the paid feature is convenience only.