Privacy concerns are driving many consumers toward that they control completely. "The unit is yours and so the hard drive that stores the images and videos in that scenario, you have access to, nobody else should," says Alan Hochstrasser Jr. A basic two-camera setup with decent encryption costs as little as $200 and allows recording weeks or months of video on a personally owned server.
Many modern systems, such as those from Ring or Arlo , allow you to set "privacy masks" or "blackout zones" in the app. This digitally blocks out specific parts of the camera's view, like a neighbor’s window, while still monitoring your yard. Privacy concerns are driving many consumers toward that