Show HN: Update: Open-source private home security camera(end-to-end encryption)

[arrdalan]

Several months ago, I posted in Show HN (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42284412) about this project (previously named Privastead, now changed to Secluso). It's a privacy-preserving home security camera that uses OpenMLS for end-to-end encryption between the camera and the mobile app. The post received a good amount of attention and there were many good comments.

Since then, my project cofounder and I have made major improvements to the project. The project previously would act as a hub for an IP camera, which was otherwise closed source. But now, our camera software can also run directly on a Raspberry Pi (even one as weak as a Raspberry Pi Zero 2W), resulting in a security camera with a fully open source software stack. In addition, our Raspberry Pi-based camera can perform AI to detect people/pets/vehicles and send notifications. Moreover, our released camera binary can be verified using reproducible builds and our app now runs on iOS as well as Android. You can use this project to turn your Raspberry Pi into a fully functional and (more important) private security camera. Please check it out, use it, and provide us with feedback!

In addition, we built a prototype of a standalone home security camera using this open source project and a Raspberry Pi. Please check it out here (https://secluso.com/). It's not meant to replace the open source project, but to explore whether a plug-and-play camera could make it easier for people who are interested but don't have time to set up our project on a Raspberry Pi. We're curious if this kind of device would be useful to the community. If you'd like updates on our progress on that front, you can join our mailing list on the site.

Finally, we'd love to hear your feedback and ideas on how we can improve the project. And we always welcome contributions to our open source project.

Our site: https://secluso.com

[112233]

When would I pick this over Frigate?

[arrdalan]

One can use Frigate + Home Assistant + some secure remote access solution (e.g., VPN) to get a usage model similar to Secluso. Secluso however provides the following advantages:

1) You'll get advanced end-to-end encryption (MLS).

2) You'll get a trusted firmware (fully open source and verifiable software running on a Raspberry Pi). An important advantage of having trusted firmware is that you won't have to worry about putting a firewall in front of a camera that comes with closed source firmware and hence can't be trusted.

3) Secluso is easier to set up. All you need is to run our released binaries in a Raspberry Pi, a server, and then use our app. We are also open to providing server support for for a limited number of interested users. This will further simplify the setup. Please contact us if you're interested.

4) With Secluso, you won't need a hub or an NVR. All you need is a Raspberry Pi (and its camera).

[purpleidea]

I honestly don't quite understand what your offering is about. I have an RTSP (TLS) camera, which streams to my phone. That's end to end encrypted, what am I missing?

[arrdalan]

There are several differences.

1) Usage model: RTSP cameras can be used for on-demand livestreaming. In contrast, the usage model of our camera is similar to a Ring camera: not only does it support livestreaming, but also it detects events (motion, person, pet, etc.), records a video clip, and sends it to the phone.

2) Connection and ease of use: with an RTSP camera, the camera acts as a sever. You can easily connect to it from your phone if your phone is connected to the same LAN. But if you're outside (which is very typical in the case of home security camera), you will need to connect to your LAN from outside. You have several options to achieve this (port forwarding, VPN, reverse proxy, etc.). Some of these options are not very secure. And they all require some non-trivial setup. In contrast, with our camera (again, similar to a Ring camera), the camera sends the videos to a cloud server and the app downloads them. Therefore, there's no need for the phone to access the LAN. (But note that in contrast to Ring, the videos in Secluso are always end-to-end encrypted. Ring supports an optional end-to-end encrypted mode, but you will lose advanced AI features such as person detection if you enable that since that is performed in their servers.) With the cloud-based video relay, we can then make it very easy to set up and use our camera. More specifically, our plug-and-play camera (https://secluso.com) is very easy to use: scan a QR code, pair, and you're good to go.

3) Encryption: Secluso uses MLS, which provides advanced end-to-end encryption features such as forward secrecy (per message) and post-compromise security.

4) Trust in firmware: Our goal with our recent Raspberry Pi camera is to provide a home security camera with a fully open source firmware. In fact, we now support a reproducible build, which allows you to verify that the firmware binary is built from the open source software in our github repo. This is in contrast to IP cameras that come with closed source firmware, making it difficult to assess their trustworthiness.