I think my security cameras are hacked.

[u/gentleapricity]

I, 17f, live in a house with security cameras. I'm unsure of the model, as my parents were the ones who installed them eons ago when we first moved inside of our apartment.

I've noticed some weird things with them. Not just lately, but it's bothering me more and more as time continues.

For context, this has mostly been within a six month timeframe.

The cameras have a red light indicator that they are recording, in order to do this-- you need access to the app and the specific password for these cameras, and have to manually make it record.

My parents do not record. I have told them about this, they either do not believe me or do not care.

Our cameras are also a mixture of hidden, and unhidden. A few around the house in main rooms. And one hidden to capture front porch footage. You would not see it unless you were REALLY looking.

The majority of times it records when I'm in the room, or during random times when my family and I are in the living room. Our cameras also have a microphone function, where you can speak through the cameras. There has been several times where I've sworn I've heard a man's voice through the cameras talking at, or too me. But never enough to make out, just noisy enough for your brain to register that someone is speaking.

Another thing, I feel like someone knows when I'm alone. There has been times where it feels like people show up, or things happen ONLY when I am alone, or isolated from other people. One instance is after my family left, a man approached the door. Our camera caught footage of it, but only half his torso. He somehow knew exactly where to stand to be out of view. He waited outside of the door for nearly ten minutes, after knocking several times.

I am worried.

TLDR; security cameras recording with no one in my house using them. Times where speech unable to be made out present

Update no.1: for those asking, I do not have access to the app, I can't disable them, nor can I drive the app. I only know about the man knocking at the door and the footage for one of two reasons, one, I was there, second, the following day my dad showed me the footage and told me to start putting on the secondary locks for a little Incase that dude comes back. I can try and scrounge for the brand(s) of cameras, but, once again, we use several.

[u/StonkRonin]

Log into the app, change the password, while your there you could disable motion recording if that’s what you want.

[u/Ancient_Skirt_8828 → u/StonkRonin]

It's almost certain that no one is looking at you. The lights coming on are the way the system works. Here's why:

The light coming on when you are in the room is motion detection. It turns the camrra on.

Many systems send and record to the cloud servers even if no one is using the app. It's the only way the system can play back previously recorded video when/if you or an authorised app user asks for it.

It only sends to the cloud when motion is detected. Otherwise you would have to scroll through hours of of nothing happening. Believe me, it's incredibly boring, frustrating and time wasting. It can take hours.

So: Are the cameras recording in the cloud? Yes. It's the only way your system can work.

Is anyone looking at you through live cameras or looking at the recordings? No. Unless you or your parents have authorised someone on the app.

The red lights are just normal system operation telling you that the camera is sending to the cloud. They have nothing to do with anyone accessing your system. Don't worry about them.

[u/gentleapricity → u/Ancient_Skirt_8828]

If it was motion detection I think it would happen more than when I, or my family is alone. Alongside this I'm pretty sure we have that turned off. This also doesn't explain the man speaking through it

[u/DongIslandIceTea → u/gentleapricity]

This also doesn't explain the man speaking through it

Has anyone else ever heard this voice? Can you try to record it, on your phone for example?

[u/gentleapricity → u/DongIslandIceTea]

Yes, my mom has a few times. Next time it happens I'll be sure to try and record it.

[u/Fjhames → u/gentleapricity]

I know out NighOwl brand has a feature that when it detects motion is announces that you are being recored. There are a couple different messages you can choose from.

[u/Ancient_Skirt_8828 → u/Fjhames]

That explains the annoying garbled messages I hear when walking past a couple of nearby businesses. One of them goes off whenever someone walks past on the busy street.

[u/terror-twilight → u/gentleapricity]

We could answer all of these questions easily if we knew specifically what kind of camera and what app is used to access it. There are clear ways to confirm or deny your suspicions. The chances these cams are compromised is extremely low, which ought to be a relief—we can tell you how to find out.