Ring’s partnership with Flock is sparking renewed online backlash this week, with influencers calling for people to smash their Ring cameras and claiming the company is part of the surveillance state amid heightened concerns over ICE actions.
Technology
How to thief-proof your Christmas decorations
Holiday decoration theft has become an increasingly frustrating issue for many homeowners. Karen from Los Angeles shared her experience with us in an email, stating,
“We have criminals who visit our neighborhood to not only steal mail and packages but also holiday decorations. I made a Christmas decoration for our mailbox, which was promptly stolen.”
We’re sorry to hear about the theft in your neighborhood. This highlights a problem that goes beyond mere property loss. It’s a theft of holiday cheer and personal effort. Let’s see how we can use technology to help secure your decorations.
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Outdoor decorations that were stolen. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
Smart solutions for festive security
Karen also inquired about the effectiveness of Samsung SmartTags, asking if these tags would work on her decorations and how far they could reach. The good news is that Samsung SmartTags can indeed be used on your holiday decorations. You can attach the SmartTag to any item you want to track. These devices are compatible with most recent Samsung Galaxy phones, including the Galaxy S9, making them accessible to many Android users.
As for the distance, the range of the Samsung SmartTag uses Bluetooth to connect to your phone. If the item is within Bluetooth range, you can ring it to find it or use the “Search Nearby” feature to get directions to it. If the item is out of range, other Samsung devices near the tag will anonymously locate it for you and then let you know where it is. This is done in the background and is encrypted to ensure privacy. The SmartTag does not beep when it’s out of range.
The Samsung SmartTag is compatible with almost all Samsung Galaxy phones released recently. They must have 2GB of RAM and run Android 8.0 (Oreo) or higher. So, your Samsung Galaxy S9 phones should be compatible with the Samsung SmartTag.
Outdoor Christmas decorations. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
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Apple AirTags: An alternative approach
For those considering a switch to Apple, AirTags present another viable option. Karen asked if she would have problems tracking her decorations with an Apple AirTag. While primarily designed for iOS devices, you can use it with your Android phone as mentioned in our article here, with some limitations. It uses the Find My network, and if another Apple device passes by the AirTag, the Find My network will be notified of the lost item’s location.
The AirTag does not beep when it’s out of range. However, the AirTag’s Precision Finding feature, which provides highly accurate tracking, is only compatible with iPhone 11 series and onwards. If you’re considering purchasing an iPhone, the iPhone 11 would be a relatively inexpensive option that is compatible with the AirTag’s Precision Finding feature.
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Outdoor Christmas decorations. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
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Samsung SmartTags vs. Apple AirTags
Both Samsung SmartTags and Apple AirTags offer extensive tracking capabilities. The SmartTag uses Bluetooth for nearby tracking and relies on other Samsung devices for long-range location. Similarly, AirTags leverage the Find My network, utilizing nearby Apple devices to relay location information.
For Samsung users like Karen, the SmartTag is the natural choice, working seamlessly with Galaxy devices. Those considering Apple might look at the AirTag as an option.
Please note that while these tags can help you track your items, they might not prevent theft as they are not hidden devices and can be removed by someone who recognizes what they are.
Outdoor Christmas decorations. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
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Additional tips for festive security
1. Use motion-activated cameras: Install motion-activated security cameras to monitor your decorations. Many security cameras send real-time notifications to your phone, allowing you to act quickly if someone tampers with your property.
2. Secure decorations: Consider physically securing your decorations with zip ties, chains or locks. While this won’t deter all thieves, it can make stealing more difficult and time-consuming.
3. Light it up: Well-lit areas are less appealing to thieves. Ensure your yard and decorations are adequately lit with outdoor lights, especially in dark corners or near entry points.
4. Engage your neighbors: Create a sense of community by alerting neighbors to thefts and keeping an eye out for suspicious activity. A connected neighborhood can act as a strong deterrent.
5. Mark your property: Use invisible ink or engrave your decorations with a unique identifier. If stolen items are recovered, this will help law enforcement return them to you.
6. Report thefts to local law enforcement: Always report thefts, no matter how small. Law enforcement can track patterns and increase patrols in areas with frequent incidents. Providing details may also help them recover stolen items.
Outdoor Christmas decorations. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
Kurt’s key takeaways
In her email, Karen expressed her frustration: “I know this seems minor… but it’s disheartening to see the things you spend time, money and a little love get stolen.” The desire to protect holiday decorations goes beyond material value — it’s about safeguarding the joy and effort put into creating a festive atmosphere. As we embrace these technologies, let’s also remember the importance of community vigilance and mutual respect.
Have you ever used tracking devices, security cameras, or other gadgets to safeguard your decorations? What worked well, and what would you recommend to others? Let us know by writing us at Cyberguy.com/Contact
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TikTok USDS Joint Venture’s mandate is to secure U.S. user data, apps and the algorithm through comprehensive data privacy and cybersecurity measures. It will safeguard the U.S. content ecosystem through robust trust and safety policies and content moderation while ensuring continuous accountability through transparency reporting and third-party certifications.
Data Protection: U.S. user data will be protected by USDS Joint Venture in Oracle’s secure U.S. cloud environment. The Joint Venture will operate a comprehensive data privacy and cybersecurity program that is audited and certified by third party cybersecurity experts. The program will adhere to major industry standards, including the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) CSF and 800-53 and ISO 27001 as well as the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Security Requirements for Restricted Transactions.
Algorithm Security: The Joint Venture will retrain, test, and update the content recommendation algorithm on U.S. user data. The content recommendation algorithm will be secured in Oracle’s U.S. cloud environment.
Software Assurance: The Joint Venture will secure U.S. apps through software assurance protocols, and review and validate source code on an ongoing basis, assisted by its Trusted Security Partner, Oracle.
Trust & Safety: The Joint Venture will safeguard the U.S. content ecosystem and have decision-making authority for trust and safety policies and content moderation.
TikTok USDS Joint Venture has three managing investors, Silver Lake, Oracle and MGX, each holding 15%. Completing the full consortium of investors are: Dell Family Office, the investment firm of Michael Dell, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Dell Technologies; Vastmere Strategic Investments, LLC, an affiliate of Susquehanna International Group, LLP; Alpha Wave Partners; Revolution; Merritt Way, LLC controlled and managed by partners of Dragoneer; Via Nova, an affiliate of General Atlantic; Virgo LI, Inc., investment arm of a foundation established by Yuri and Julia Milner in support of science; and NJJ Capital, the family office of Xavier Niel, a French entrepreneur and pioneer in telecommunications. ByteDance retains 19.9% of the Joint Venture.
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Apple and Google just made one of the most important artificial intelligence (AI) announcements of the year. Under a new multi-year collaboration, Apple will base the next generation of its Apple Foundation Models on Google’s Gemini models and cloud technology.
The companies confirmed the partnership in a joint statement, signaling a major shift in how Apple plans to deliver AI features across the iPhone, iPad and Mac.
The deal comes as Apple faces growing pressure to catch up in AI, especially after delaying a long-promised overhaul of Siri.
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Apple and Google have entered a multiyear AI partnership that will shape the future of Apple Intelligence and Siri. (Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Why Apple chose Google’s Gemini
Apple evaluated multiple AI options before settling on Gemini. According to the joint statement, Apple believes Google’s AI provides the strongest foundation for its own models. Gemini has quickly become one of the most capable large language model families, backed by Google’s massive cloud infrastructure.
For Apple, this means faster development, more reliable performance and the ability to roll out advanced features without rebuilding everything from scratch. At the same time, Apple says Apple Intelligence will still run on the device and through its Private Cloud Compute system. In other words, Apple controls how user data flows, even if the underlying models come from Google.
The joint statement from Apple and Google
Here is the full joint statement from the two companies:
“Apple and Google have entered into a multi-year collaboration under which the next generation of Apple Foundation Models will be based on Google’s Gemini models and cloud technology. These models will help power future Apple Intelligence features, including a more personalized Siri coming this year.
“After careful evaluation, Apple determined that Google’s AI technology provides the most capable foundation for Apple Foundation Models and is excited about the innovative new experiences it will unlock for Apple users. Apple Intelligence will continue to run on Apple devices and Private Cloud Compute, while maintaining Apple’s industry-leading privacy standards.”
That last line is critical. Apple is clearly trying to reassure users that privacy remains central, even with Google’s technology involved.
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Google’s Gemini models will help power Apple’s next-generation AI features while Apple keeps control of on-device processing and privacy. (REUTERS/Norbert von der Groeben)
A long-delayed Siri overhaul finally moves forward
A more personalized Siri is one of the biggest promises tied to this deal. Apple had already previewed major Siri improvements but ran into development problems. Reports described internal frustration, bugs and delays that pushed the revamped assistant further out than planned. This partnership helps explain why. By leaning on Gemini, Apple can accelerate Siri’s evolution instead of trying to solve every AI challenge internally. The result should be a smarter assistant that better understands context, handles complex requests and integrates more deeply across Apple apps.
Behind-the-scenes pressure at Apple
This deal did not happen in a vacuum. Apple has faced criticism for moving too slowly on AI while rivals pushed ahead. Apple had reportedly been in talks to license a custom version of Gemini for Siri and was expected to pay roughly $1 billion per year, though the official announcement did not confirm any financial terms.
Apple has also reshuffled its AI leadership. The company recently hired Amar Subramanya as vice president of artificial intelligence. He replaced John Giannandrea, who stepped down from the role after leading Apple’s AI strategy since 2018.
Antitrust questions loom
There is also a regulatory angle. Apple and Google already face scrutiny for their long-standing search agreement. That partnership came under renewed attention after U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta ruled that Google holds a monopoly in online search, while still allowing payments to Apple to keep Google as the default search engine on iPhones. This new AI collaboration could attract fresh attention from antitrust regulators who worry about powerful tech companies becoming even more intertwined.
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The deal signals a strategic shift as Apple accelerates its AI roadmap to deliver smarter, more personalized experiences across its devices. (Phil Barker/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
What this means for you
For those of you using Apple devices, the impact is straightforward. You should see smarter Apple Intelligence features arrive faster, starting with a more capable Siri. Tasks like summarizing messages, handling complex reminders and understanding context across apps should improve. At the same time, Apple insists your data stays protected. Apple Intelligence will still rely on device processing and Private Cloud Compute, rather than funneling personal data directly into Google’s systems. In short, users get better AI without giving up Apple’s privacy stance, at least in theory.
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Kurt’s key takeaways
Apple’s partnership with Google marks a turning point in its AI story. Instead of going it alone, Apple is betting that combining its privacy-focused platform with Google’s AI muscle is the fastest path forward. If Apple delivers on its promises, this deal could finally close the AI gap that has frustrated users and investors alike. The real test will come when those features land on your devices.
Do you trust Apple to balance powerful AI with privacy now that Google’s technology sits under the hood? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com.
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Flock is an AI-powered surveillance camera company that has reportedly allowed government agencies — including ICE — to access data from its nationwide camera network. Amazon-owned home security company Ring announced a partnership with Flock last year as part of its new Community Requests tool. This allows local law enforcement agencies to request footage from nearby Ring users when investigating an active case.
“Ring has no partnership with ICE … and does not share video with them.”
According to reporting from Futurism, activists are pushing a grassroots campaign across social media, including TikTok and Bluesky, telling Ring users to get rid of their cameras to prevent footage from being used by ICE. However, Ring spokesperson Yassi Yarger told The Verge in an email that “Ring has no partnership with ICE, does not give ICE videos, feeds, or back-end access, and does not share video with them.”
Yarger also said that the Flock integration in question, which was announced last October, is not yet live. Meaning Flock does not have access to Community Requests.
“As we explore the integration, we will ensure the feature is built for the use of local public safety agencies only — which is what the program is designed for,” she said. According to Ring’s support site, local agencies are limited to city and county organizations.
Still, once footage is in the hands of local authorities, it’s out of Ring’s control. Ring founder Jamie Siminoff has told The Verge that he believes widespread cameras can prevent crime. But once deployed, the potential for such a large-scale local surveillance system to be used for other purposes is very real.
Since returning to the company last year, Siminoff has leaned into his belief that more cameras lead to safer communities, launching Community Requests last September.
This is essentially a rebrand of Ring’s controversial Request for Assistance feature, which was discontinued in 2024. Only, instead of direct partnerships with law enforcement, Community Requests works through integrations with “third-party evidence management platforms,” such as Flock and Axon, a Taser and body-cam company.
Any local agency partnered with either company can request users’ footage through the Ring’s apps. According to Yarger, currently, only the Axon partnership is live.
According to Ring, Community Requests sends a request from the local agency to both the Ring Neighbors app and the Ring app’s Community Feed. The request appears to all users in the area of an active investigation, and a user can choose to share footage or ignore the request. Ring says no one will be notified if you ignore a request.
How to disable Community Requests and enable E2E
If you don’t want to participate in Community Requests, you can disable it in the Ring or Neighbors app. Go to the app’s settings page, find the Neighbors Settings, then scroll down to Neighborhood Settings, click Feed Settings, uncheck Community Requests, and click Apply.
However, Ring — like many security camera companies — may provide footage to law enforcement without a warrant in what it deems an emergency.
To prevent anyone from accessing your Ring footage, you can enable end-to-end encryption (E2E) in the Ring app.
While your footage is still stored in Ring’s cloud, with E2E turned on, only the mobile device you set up the camera with can view the video; it cannot be accessed by Ring or used for Community Requests.
Enabling E2E means you lose several features, including person detection, rich notifications that show a snapshot of activity, and Ring’s new AI-powered descriptions, all of which rely on the cloud.
While most cloud-based security cameras encrypt footage in transit and at rest, they need to access it in the cloud to analyze it and enable those features.
Alternatives to cloud-dependent cameras
If you want to avoid cloud-dependent cameras entirely, there are several other options for keeping your camera footage private and secure.
As mentioned, Ring cameras use the cloud to process footage for features like person detection; however, some security cameras can process video locally and fully encrypt it before sending it to the cloud. Generally, this requires a hub to process the footage.
If you are an iPhone user, Apple’s HomeKit Secure Video service is fully E2E encrypted. Video analysis is done locally on a home hub, such as a HomePod or Apple TV, and stored in your iCloud account. It requires compatible cameras, including models from Eve, Aqara, and Eufy.
Anker-owned Eufy is another company that offers local storage and video processing for its wide selection of cameras and video doorbells. The company had some serious security breaches involving the cloud in 2022, but its newer HomeBase hardware can run locally.
TP-Link’s Tapo, Aqara, and Reolink recently launched local hubs for storage and processing of footage from their cameras, and these companies also offer cameras and video doorbells with onboard local processing and local storage via microSD cards.
The new Matter standard now supports security cameras, which could open more options for local, secure storage and processing of camera footage.
Ultimately, any camera connected to the internet comes with the risk that it could be accessed by someone other than you, no matter what the company says. So it remains important to think carefully before adding any type of surveillance to your home or your neighborhood.
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