Many people want to replace their Ring doorbell cameras with something less evil that isn't surveilling you and your neighbors to feed data to ICE and cops.

This won't work for every situation, but perhaps you could get away with a low-tech device invented by Benjamin Franklin, called the busybody:

https://kilianhardware.com/franklin-busybody/

It's just some mirrors outside your 2nd-floor window that can be positioned to show you who is at your door.

Franklin Busybody™

Franklin Busybody™ uses 3 mirrors to let you see the street below from a second-floor window. Based on a Benjamin Franklin design.

Kilian Hardware
@skyfaller but can people on the street then see into my living room as well?

@scott Theoretically I suppose, but I think they'd need binoculars, and they would only get a tiny window of one specific angle.

Once someone is looking at your windows with binoculars, they're pretty determined to violate your privacy, and you could see them through your busybody and, I dunno, throw a water balloon out the window at them.

The problem the busybody solves is if you can't see your front door from your window without poking your head out the window, because the angle is wrong.

@skyfaller ohh god I forgot he invented that !😹
He coined the perfect name too 😹

@skyfaller

I don't get it!?

Why do people share their doorbell camera with fascist groups in the first place?

@utopify_org I couldn't tell you why people buy Ring doorbells. I guess people need to see who is at the door without physically going to the door, and that convenience prevents them from considering other concerns.

But Ring the company shares data with ICE & police without requiring warrants. People with Ring doorbells are not voluntarily sending their doorbell videos to ICE, if that's what you're asking.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/07/amazon-ring-cashes-techno-authoritarianism-and-mass-surveillance

Ring is owned by Amazon, everyone should know they're evil.

Amazon Ring Cashes in on Techno-Authoritarianism and Mass Surveillance

Ring founder Jamie Siminoff is back at the helm of the surveillance doorbell company, and with him is the surveillance-first-privacy-last approach that made Ring one of the most maligned tech devices. Not only is the company reintroducing new versions of old features which would allow police to...

Electronic Frontier Foundation

@skyfaller

ok, let me ask differently:

Why do people share the data of their doorbells with Amazon or other companies?

Are they just stupid, crazy or mentally ill? I really don't understand this behavior.

@utopify_org If you really thought deeply about the ethical impacts of every little decision or action you take, every product you buy or use, you wouldn't get much done. I should know, I analyze every aspect of my life and I accomplish very little!

In other words: they probably just don't think about it.

@skyfaller

In short: Americans do American things…

Well, if one can't see even one step ahead, it might be good if consequences hit hard. Otherwise there will be no learning effect, because common sense isn't there.

@skyfaller

Running upstairs every time someone knocks on the door could help folks lose weight too.

@the5thColumnist If you're already on the same floor as the door, you could use a more common low-tech device: a peephole. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peephole
Peephole - Wikipedia

@skyfaller I take the lowest tech approach of all. If I'm expecting somebody I sit near the door to open it. If I'm not, I ignore the doorbell.
@skyfaller in Philly, they were just called Franklin Mirrors