‎Could I Have just caught someone watching us through our Motion Camera? | SimpliSafe Support Home
 
Larrgjr's profile

1 Message

Wednesday, February 21st, 2024

Could I Have just caught someone watching us through our Motion Camera?

Super strange. Wife and I disabled the alarm when we got home a little more than an hour ago. Motion sensor camera is set to briefly open/record when the away alarm is triggered, like when we get home and open the front door, and turns off within a minute of disarming. We’ve been home for about an hour and I randomly look at our motion sensor camera and noticed the camera shutter was open. I stared at it for a few seconds, then got my wife’s attention to look at it too. The moment we both looked at the camera, the shutter closed instantly. Coincidence? Checked timeline history and no recordings were listed. Did we just catch someone watching us or was it a complete coincidence that the shutter failed to close for the hour or so we’ve been home and the moment we both noticed it, and looked directly at it, it closed?

Adding some additional context: My initial thought here was that it was a potential compromise of our account. I do have 2FA enable and have not received any unexpected login attempts. I have since changed our PW just in case. SimpliSafe does not show any other logged in devices besides my phone. Removed the camera and will monitor for the next few days. Again, could be a total coincidence that the shutter malfunctioned (for the first time?) and failed to close after the initial minute recording, remained open for more than an hour unnoticed, and just so happened to close when my wife and I both noticed it and looked directly at it. Just makes me feel uneasy. 

Oldest First
Selected Oldest First

Community Admin

 • 

3.4K Messages

1 year ago

Hi @Larrgjr, 

This could have been an instance where the Smart Alarm Indoor Camera's Privacy Shutter got stuck open after you came home.


Did you notice a flashing LED light on your camera when its Privacy Shutter was open? A flashing blue light means that a user activated a recording or live stream, and a flashing amber light means that 24/7 live guard protection is enabled, there is an active alarm in progress, and one of our monitoring agents is currently looking at a live stream.


I also want to ensure you that no one at SimpliSafe has at-will access to your camera feed. The only time a monitoring agent can see a live stream or video footage is if 24/7 live guard protection or Video Verification is enabled and there is an active alarm in progress. 


Since you mention that you were not notified of any recent login attempts and you do not see any other devices logged into your account, that only furthers my hunch that the Privacy Shutter happened to be stuck open. However, to be completely sure, I've escalated your case to our Specialist team. A senior specialist will reach out to you soon, so keep an ear out for their call.

5 Messages

I now have had a text 3 different times telling me that my system was armed somehow when it was already armed hours before. I've changed my password several times, but it keeps happening.  1st time I heard the text and then the shutter click open & I was right there to see the camera recording. It said it was armed "remotely". Once I figured out that I had to log in on a computer instead of the app to change my password, I unarmed & armed it thru the computer & THAT is what shows up as arming remotely. The 2nd time it happened, I woke up & glanced at my phone around 3 AM & had a text around 2:30 saying it was armed "home" on the app. I wasn't around to look at the camera that time. No recording showed in my timeline either time & I didn't get any alert that someone logged in from anywhere, but should I always get notified when I sign in? No one else in my family has the app or the password.  It has to be someone that hacked in somehow.  Today it was armed away again when it was armed away hours before. There was no one home or leaving at that time & no way to know if the camera was recording because nothing showed in my timeline.  I have contacted simplisafe more than once & get nowhere. No explanation, no Investigation, no contact from anyone higher up - just the same bull about no one being able to make the cameras record or no one can view them because they are encrypted which I don't believe. If someone can keep hacking into my account after I keep changing the password, they can record, arm & disarm the system. They tried to say I had some automatic or scheduled thing set, but I didnt even know that was an option. There was no system status check (or whatever it is called) before it happened at anybody the times it happened. No one in my household has the login info except me. I'm about to change the password AGAIN, and about to drop the alarm system entirely if someone can't figure out what other phones or computers are logged into my account or provide someway for me to view who is logged in & block them or log them out, like you can logout devices & tvs, etc from your Google account. I feel like someone is preparing to disarm the system & break in when they can tell we have left the house.  I DO NOT FEEL SAFE ANYMORE & no one at Simplisafe so far has really acted like they are concerned whatsoever!

Community Admin

 • 

3.4K Messages

@bunky67​ It sounds like you are experiencing a rare, known issue where the Base Station re-announces its current armed state when checking in with our service.

Please know that your system is completely secure, no one has logged in or gained access to it without you knowing. And with our security measure of 2-Step Verification in place, no one would be able to log into your account without a code getting send to you via email or SMS. 

You can also always see what devices are logged into your SimpliSafe account in the mobile app by going to: the three-bar menu > Account Settings > Manage Logins. And if there are any devices that you do not want logged into your account, you can log them out by tapping the red X next to the device name.

But to resolve this issue, please update your Base Station's firmware if you have not already. Our latest firmware update includes a fix to this issue.

1.6K Messages

10 months ago

@emily_s 

Who and why was someone Simplisafe logged into my system?

Evidently a long time. I deleted them.

(edited)

1 Message

10 months ago

Honestly, I I found this post because I am noticing the same thing & searching online. I do not often use my alarm and never use home mode. Been noticing the last couple months that my camera shutters will open randomly at night. I’ll start staring at it and it will close. This made me really uncomfortable because I kept checking my settings and nothing indicated that my cameras should be active. I started putting Post-it notes on my cameras because they keep turning on for no reason. It seems like there might be something funny going on and it’s not a good look for the company. It feels like someone is watching me that shouldn’t be.

4 months ago

Same thing just happened to me as well. Very concerning. No flashing light. Will change pass word as that's a good idea. Have you had any other occurrences? 

Community Admin

 • 

1.6K Messages

@jessicablair89 Are you experiencing the exact same symptoms as the OP? In that case, it could be that the camera's Privacy Shutter got stuck open. In that case, we recommend resetting the camera to help prevent this from happening again.

 

The steps to reset an indoor camera depend on the model. For the SimpliCam, see the How to Reset the SimpliCam® Wired Indoor Camera article in the Help Center. For the Smart Alarm, visit the How to Reset Your Smart Alarm Wireless Indoor Security Camera article.

1 Message

3 days ago

My issue is a bit different, but my camera has recorded me twice recently.  When I disarm the system, the camera always turns on and records for a minute. That is how the system normally operates. But twice, the system disarmed again a few minutes later and the camera came on. I had not rearmed the system.  It does make me feel like someone is tampering with my system just so they can watch the camera.  

1.6K Messages

3 days ago

I made a personal choice long ago, since the Ring $30 million dollar privacy lawsuit. Look it up, what a debacle. And that I just don't trust any business these days with our privacy.

No SS indoor cameras for me. My choices.

The ones that are looking inside are in the basement and garage. And are not Simplisafes. Several other brand cameras are in stuck in window mounts looking outside.

The other brand had their previous privacy quirks too but have since tightened up security. So they say.

They could record sound but that's turned off and confirmed they do not record.

I can't speak to the SS indoor cams.

I can speak to the outdoor version 1 white cameras, I have 5. Even during times where I didn't have a recording plan they were recording and sending videos up to the SS servers.

CEO Escalations sorta admitted it on my account, called it a one off mistake and blew me off with excuses.

SS has never supplied proof & never will whether they stopped doing it, that it was actually just a single mistake on us or just plain negligence and/or lazy programming. I do believe they're not doing it in purpose or maliciously, but if my evidence is valid, it shouldn't be happening at all. Period 

It is a violation of Wiretap laws in Pennsylvania which are strict. Amd other States. Ignorance or ignoring the law is no excuse.

SS recorded audio and video. Audio at least requires warning & verbal person consent or a sign which I have. Just in case.

You're on my property, you will be recorded vidio & audio, so people are warned by me. Even if unnecessary. My property.

How do I know it happened? I was on self monitoring since on or about last Decemberish 2024 when I cancelled.

What happened? Signed on May 8th 2025 free trial for self with recordings.

A previous 30 days of recordings, pre May 8th 2025 which shouldn't have been recorded, came streaming into the timeline.

Which of course I took screenshots and saved the audio recordings as proof. Indisputable evidence.

I can't verify what goes on the server side obviously, whether it was actually a one off or not. I'm not making accusations of any thing other than what I have evidence of.

What I can do to see if they just record forever is sign up again for self with recordings and see if it happens again, or not. I might. What's $10?

What I know, the cameras are not supposed to be recording us if we haven't got and pay for a free trial, or a recording plan that obviously make recordings.

And per privacy, only as indicated in how they operate with a recording plan.

You can draw your own conclusions.

Trust but verify. To the degree that's even possible. What actually happens server side only Simplisafe may know.

New to the Community? Get started by reading our Welcome Article and please be sure to review our Community Guidelines before posting.