Eufy Security Flaw - BEWARE!!! 

Issue has since been resolved with latest firmware update. Took almost two years since Eufy was made aware of the security concern but at least they didn't stick to their response saying it's operating as intended and realized that was idiotic. All thanks to content creators like yourself and the community keeping these companies in check. Thank you.

Good thing RU-vidrs are looking out for us and calling out these companies when they find flaws. I have cameras from different brands so if one camera flaw from one brand is exploited it won't work on the other cameras.

UPDATE: It appears there's a lot more trouble going on with Eufy than just the issue i talk about in this video. Linus Tech Tips did a video talking about other security feature with Eufy cameras. You can check out that video here... ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-2ssMQtKAMyA.html. Like with Linus, i am parting ways with Eufy, and all the other companies under Anker. People in the Eufy Forums are not getting the resolution they are looking for. I made this video to bring more attention to this flaw in hopes that it gets resolved.

Easy way to sort this would be for Eufy to get a PIN to pop up on the users device. That way potential thieves would not be able to delete the cam.

With Black Friday coming up I was just about to purchase Eufy. Now I'll look at other brands. This is an absolute NO-GO.

Thank you for bringing this to our attention. This is s very big concern. I do not own any Eufy cameras. But this would be great info into what I would buy. Keep up your great work.

My issue is with eufy’s theft risk. I’ve lost three of them. You see someone looking at it one day, looking around for more cameras, then a few days later it just disappears. They discover it, look at the kind, realize it’s a highly resellable eufy, then sneak up behind it and take it. Eufy refuses to take any effort to lock a stolen camera, which just increases its theft value.

The reason why I'm interested in a recording camera in the first place, is the fact that I can be easily killed in a near future. When this happens, I need the recordings to be secured. This is a HUGE dealbreaker for me.

Thanks for posting this review. My wife and I are having a house built and was looking into Eufy security system. Love the idea of having all the videos stored locally instead of on a cloud. Now that I know about this security flaw I will be moving on to something else. Thanks Eufy, you just pushed away another potential customer because you won't address security flaws, nor will you listen to your customers about these security flaws.

This is the main reason I crossed Eufy off my list. I saw something about it on a different review a while back. Would love to understand why Eufy thinks this is a good idea.

Thanks for this video, I am gathering all the info on this camera since I was ready to buy one but after watching this video, I too will put a pause on spending such a large amount of money on something that definitely has a flaw!

Thanks for bringing this up. I've been in contact with eufy for the past several days. I received an email from the engineering team stating, "Our action plan, "press and hold 10s on the Sync button erase binding and settings feature" will be canceled." The've been really good at customer service so far for me, so hoping for a quick resolution. Thanks for posting this video.

That is an absolute deal breaker for me. That is in unacceptable security flaw. And even more concerning that they are blatantly ignoring all their customers complaints and don’t care.

Great timing on this, both me and a friend were all set to buy doorbells from them on a BF deal. Won't be doing that anymore!

Ive had nothing but issues with this camera. The 2k wireless Doorbell Camera will also not record the footage if you are currently looking through the camera in real time. So if someone is breaking into your home and you happen too look while the crime is being committed, the home base will NOT store and save the footage - which is idiotic. You have to hit the record button within the app on your phone to record the current video.

To think I almost bought this type of camera. I guess that means a thief can come along and steal your camera and basically erase all the footage of that thief approaching the camera to steal it. Good one.

As an IT guy might add this to your testing if you don't now. Most of these cams seem to fully depend on Internet. What happens if internet is down say for power or service outage. Do these cameras store anything and re-sync all data when internet is back online?

This is one of many reasons why I do not rely on, nor do I trust Wi-Fi cameras to protect my property. Wired systems are the way to go. You should hard wire each camera back to an NVR and then ideally back up that NVR to a cloud service like drop box.

The best thing about Eufy is that you can store your own data without having to put it into the cloud

Ooof! Thanks for this. I'm currently researching a home solution that doesn't require a monthly subscription, and Eufy has gone from top of my list to the bottom in the space of 8 minutes and four seconds.

Classic "feature not a bug" ha, hopefully they fix it. Thanks for sharing and bringing awareness to this issue

Hi Steve. Lots of comments on here wondering whether this flaw has been fixed. Can you advise?

Hey Steve! The issue is actually worse than you think, it turns out Eufy also uploads and stores all your face recognition images online in their cloud, which is over in China. AND if you delete your account, its still there. Its also possible to easily hack into anyones camera feed using VLC. This was recently uncovered just after you posted your video!

Thanks for the info, Steve. Much appreciated. The fact that Eufy says they're working as intended is definitely a cause for concern. It actually makes the "security" of the camera rather useless. Cause, let's face it, not everyone has the ability to install a camera so high up to prevent someone from easy access to it. Thinking one's footage is secure on the Homebase inside their home only to find out at an inconvenient time that the footage isn't secure? And Eufy doesn't plan to correct that? Bummer. I plan to share this video to hopefully help others be more informed. Thanks again for letting us know.

Did they ever fix this security flaw?

I was thiiiissss close to buying several Eufy cameras. Thank you!

Is this still happening in July 2024?

Thank you for informing people about this flaw.

I was about to make the purchase on the Eufy package. Thanks for sharing. That changes everything for me. I will be looking into the reolink. Thanks!

Oof. What an oversight. Was all in for some Eufy Black Friday deals and came to RU-vid for a quick review of a product and saw this video and have opted out. You just saved me a thousand dollars.

Thanks for bringing attention to this - just when I was thinking of switching a few cameras to Eufy! 😮

Good video. I actually purchase a set of eufy 2c pro cams last year as they came highly positively rated. Never installed them but I hope they fix this issue

We have eufy cameras. We switched from Arlo. But now I’m upset. Eufy WTF????

Thank you for the video. I had heard about this before, but you demonstrated it in the video. Like others, I was getting ready to buy the Eufy system, cameras plus home security. Reolink was recommended by our Smart home installer too, so will seriously look at that now.

Was thinking about changing to Eufy but now I am reconsidering. Hope Eufy fixes this soon.

Agree eufy should enable people to register secure camera

Use Blueiris. Eufy records rtsp to Blueiris. No Cloud. Nobody erasing anything. Blueiris user myself for over a decade. I only have 2 Eufy c24 I "tried" and via rtsp they aren't bad if on sale. I would recommend other brands though. If you already have a lot of Eufy cameras and an available PC lying around, you can salvage them with Blueiris

From Eufy chat on 7/21/23 "Hello. I'm looking at buying the wireless solar powered cameras with a homebase 3 and wireless dual cam doorbell. Would resetting by the camera sync button delete the videos from that camera on the homebase 3? 1:21 PM A yes you are right Agent-Mertie So they would be deleted? A yes the videos would be deleted if you reset the device Agent-Mertie Ok then that defeats the purpose. Thank you for your answer"

These problems have been resolved eufy cameras are amazing.

Thank you very much for notifying us eufy echo system customers always appreciate all key informations. I was in the process of purchasing the new homebase 3 with eufy cam 3c pro . I already have the doorbell camera with 2c pro with eufy cam 2 pro for 2years now. NOW this really really pissed me off with is FLAW. I think I may switch to the YOREX wired or wirelless version. Again THANK you very much Steve .

I tried this on 4 different cameras, it did not remove the camera, and I did not lose any of my footage.

This is an awesome feature. You can steal their cameras and with a simple push of a button delete all the video showing them do it.

From a developer pov that cam has an uid and if that uid is removed, clips with that uid aren’t shown anymore in the list… (basically it’s just a filter), these clips need to get another account uid and that list needs to be build up by that and also the cam id and show the camera as removed too, this absolutely need to get fixed.

Yeah, that’s kinda bad! I have RTSP on my Eufy cams so if that was to happen to me all the footage would still be on my NAS, but still, most people wouldn’t be storing their footage this way.

have you tried pulling the hard drive out of the base station to see if you can access the footage from the "de-synced" camera when using it as an external storage device on another pc?

STEVE is thisfixed or not? It is Nov 20 2023. Fixed or not?

Still the same on mine , I really dislike the video doorbell mount is trash , all someone has to do is pull it and it comes right off

Eufy has an archive feature. If you have footage you want to keep you can either download the videos to your phone or archive them (permanently store the footage) on a USB drive you plug into the rear of the homebase. The issue you bring up is not a "security flaw" this is a workaround that should be remedied. You say that you don't like Eufy because of this sync button erasing (although not technically erasing) the footage and then say the answer is another camera brand with a similar issue except the footage is gone forever with reolink. That seems counter intuitive. Lastly it would be interesting if Eufy erased your data from the cloud when you do this sync workaround.

It makes sense for the footage to be gone from the app if it uses on board storage vs. using the new Home 3 that allows expanded storage. Once the device is no longer synced to your home, how could the footage still show in the app? Also assuming you don't use the cloud storage to.

I was literally about to pull the trigger on a Eufy 2C cam kit since my garage keep getting broken in to. This issue alone will have me go to a competitor as intended.

Not gone completely but stored on China’s servers for CCP to keep.

Should makenit where you have to confirm it on the phone to delete the camera from the app or footage. Preventing a stranger from deleting footage

Thanks for the great information. I did one last search before I bought the cyber Monday special. I really hope that they fix this before the next big Eufy sales event.

Reading these comments, I see quite a few people here saying, "Oh, I'm never using Eufy again, I'm just going to replace all of my Eufy cameras now". Look, I can't do that! I have $1000 worth of Eufy cameras around my property, and even their damn robot vacuum. Are they going to fix this security flaw?

Can’t re-add the camera and regain the footage if you don’t have the camera. I guarantee you, if someone can reach the camera to erase the data, they are most likely going to either take the camera (erase data later), or destroy it (crush, smash, hammer, throw it etc.). Eufy has known of the issue for a long time / claims it works as intended ? …… I was just about to go ALL-IN on eufy …. Like 6 or 8 cameras, extra base stations, 2 doorbells, 8 floodlights, and more. SHAME ON EUFY ! Could easily run firmware update so archived video footage remains on base station. Even if Eufy doesn’t think it’s a flaw, why wouldn’t you listen to your customers. Fixing this SECURITY FLAW, by adding a redundancy into place to ensure footage isn’t lost isn’t an unreasonable expectation by any means. Well, now I don’t know what to get. What I do know though is, I’m not going ALL-IN with Eufy. Eufy, if you’re reading this …. You’re losing potential revenue from first time buyers (like me for example), and turning away your current customers / users. Even if you eventually, for whatever reason … Finally get around to doing something about the HUGE SECURITY FLAW, in my opinion you sat idle on the issue for too long already. Damage done. If this is any indication of how you would handle future flaws …. Then I’m not interested. What a shame. The whole point of storing the footage behind lock and key, is undermined by the ability to easily erase it with the push of a button from outside. Huge TROJAN back door loophole. Thieves I’m sure are well aware of this flaw now as well. Smooth move Eufy/Exlax. [ 0/10 ] .

Here is my failure. I had camera on a fence. Over 400 ants decided to make a home inside. Camera worked for 4 weeks with me killing 20 ants daily. Now battery will not charge or wiring eaten I think. Ants come out thru speaker hole. Cannot find anyone to fix, so do I just dump the camera

Why are people putting cameras in reachable spots? You should never be able to just reach and grab a security camera.

Good job man. This needs attention.

I was about to click "Place Order"....wow! Thank you!

have you seen how the eufy doorbells only work when you step out the front door. some routers they wont fully work on. being i was a technician for an un named security company. that used their products. we came across that issue with what you were talking about. along with the doorbell issue.

@04:32 it's safe in the cloud lol... no, it's not... This is something that should not be said, it is misleading.

Was about to buy a Eufy camera......now that pending purchase is on pause. Hard to find a camera apparently that is wireless, affordable, actually can withstand outdoor use,no subscription, and that actually works.

Idk if they fixed this issue either but I had to take my eufy doorbell offline for renovations and I couldn't access any recordings on my homepage unless I reconnect the doorbell. So what if someone decides to smash my doorbell? Nothing I can do. Unaccessible.... Also messaged eufy about it but they just said will tell developer

🤬Was pretty much sold on Eufy until i came across all these news about massive privacy issues involving false claims by Eufy that users footage are stored locally only and not in the cloud.

Have the two issues been fixed ? One the loss of data on reset and the other on the actual theft of the camera where it can be simply be reset and hooked up to a new system elsewhere ??? This is absurd

Gotta love it when companies say "That's a feature, not a flaw!" and tell customers to piss off. Is this also a feature on the doorbells?

you must specify what model of eufy camera too

I know this is old but the footage was indeed intact on the storage device. That was why it showed back up. There was a way to access but since of course was patch with the latest firmware update.

So if you are a criminal and break into somebodies home with Eufy cameras, just reset them by holding the button then bring them with you. Its really dumb, the camera shouldn't be the weak point of data storage.

This outfit needs a good strong heavy duty class-action lawsuit, for the camera security violations. They make great products, (sans leaky cameras), but this is UNACCEPTABLE.

Thank you for this important notice! I was planning to buy eufy but no more !!!

Sounds like the footage is still on the home base as you said. Eufy should be able to fix it easily.

Thanks Steve

Eufy is also saving your information to their private servers for themselves

Old news. At least the new ones have that alarm that goes off when / if someone tries to tamper with one of the cams. Bottom line - consumers will prioritize the following three aspects of Eufy: 1. No fees / subscription 2. Resolution 3. Local storage And they care less about potential theft / loss of footage. Sad but true. The fact that Eufy is a Chinese company should be scary enough, but it’s not. I mean, look at how many bozos are on Tik Tok still! If Ring would just provide 2k/4K and lower their subscription costs; there’d be little to no competition.

Hope they correct these security issues ASAP. too late to return my system. I do really like the cameras which is disappointing

So in theory, does this mean that if someone walked up to my property with bad intentions, they could hold that button down and there would be no footage of them coming up to the camera and anything they did afterwards ? you mentioned re-adding the camera brings back all the old footage. Would that event still be visible? no sense in buying this if someone vould erase the camera then break in...

Thanks for this video! I am looking into what system to buy, and Eufy is really nice, but this is a dealbreaker. Fix your stuff, Eufy! Why would you have an "intended feature" that allows a thief to come and grab your camera, wipe all evidence of their activity, and then take the camera so you can't ever see what happened? (And then apparently they could even re-sell the camera, since it's totally free to be installed by someone else now.) I'm sure I'm not the only one who will be looking elsewhere for security cameras for my entire home.

EZVIZ Doesn't require a subscription. They have a Great range of wire free battery cameras plus main voltage Wifi cameras and imo the app is great also. The cameras use on board SD cards though OR you can use the Ezviz NVR. I only use SD cards because my cameras are mounted up high so you would need a ladder to steal them.

Thank you bringing this up! I'll write to eufy asking about this so called feature..

No do-it -yourself system is perfect. And why would need to keep resyncing your system after the initial setup. My cameras are out the reach of anyone trying to get to them. I also have a 16TB SSHD that stores my footage. Not sure if this is an issue for me. However, after reading about your concern I will simply make certain the footage is saved before I resync the camera. Not sure this issue is worth walking away from my investment.

They can simply locks this feature if Anti-theft is activated and it should quickly solve this issue. Thank you

hmm.. I could see why someone would want it. but I wish there was a personal sequence that you could utilize. Almost like a key.

I just got the eufycam 2c and it is excellent … EXCEPT for the fact it does not automatically save to my phone. I get notified if an event happens, once I watch it, its then gone. No events are stored either.

You made this just for me today. Thanx 👍Thank You very much

But if you put the camera high enough, who is really going to go out of their way to get a ladder, put it up against you house, and steal your camera??

Thanks for bringing this to my attention Steve.

Was planning to purchase a few Eufy cameras today (Black Friday). STOPPED. Will not reconsider, until they fix this problem. While I would also love the Eufy Duo Doorbell, it has an additional flaw - cannot record to it's own Base-station or record to it cloud service!! Everything is on the SD card in the doorbell. Until they fix these major FLAWS (not marketing BS features), will not even consider them. Thanks Steve.

Odd because I just purchased eufy 2k wire doorbell, and one wifi camera that I use to monitor my basement in case the sump pump fails tested this on that camera and the footage was still there I really like the product really clear. Maybe this was fixed between your recording and my recent purchase but cannot replicate your findings on my end.

I change Ring to Eufy and I feel 100% better

I know you say this is fix and I heard this a couple of years ago. I never bothered to test. Why? Well. I started with 4 wired cameras with a dvr, then added. So these are 24/7 cameras with a 5g hd. That increased to 8 cameras plus a 4t hd. All these are installed high in trees that my 6'4" hubby must have a very tall ladder to reach. Then I added a eufy base2 with 2c cams then more 2c cams and a couple 2c pros and upgraded the base to a 3 and also have the added max capacity hd. All installed high. I also have added solar lights 2000 lumins, like six of those and one 3000 lumin. I have 15 eufy crossing the yard. Not much isn't covered. I love all my cameras but we still haven't installed 4 wired ones.

Thanks for the video! What song did you use on your closing? It sounds calming 😇

Is the issue still there now?

Your going to complain so much they are going to start charging for a subscription to keep all the data saved 😅 even if you in sync the camera .

I won't be buying an Eufy camera system now. Thank you for the heads up!

I feel like you have to weigh this against the real world risks and decide if you are concerned enough about it to replace your system. I would argue the majority of crimes that people experience on their property are petty like car break in, bike stealing, etc.. The average criminal committing these crimes is usually not tech savvy enough to identify a Eufy branded camera in the dark from a distance and likely height, and also be in tune enough with the technology to understand how to wipe it. They will be much more interested in avoiding the camera and spotlight or running away because most cameras do record to the cloud and I think eufy can do that also. In the event of a more serious violent crime the criminals are still usually more interested in avoiding cameras and getting away than thinking about stopping to see if they are eufy and taking the time to walk around and wipe them. Then there is the height challenge, usually the cameras are mounted on the higher side and while they can be reached, it takes more time and is more difficult for the criminal who is trying to get out of there. In my opinion this is a generalization of the average scenario out there. Of course there we’ll be someone out there who will know about this and might take the time to try and erase them, but I feel like this would be the exception.

Thank you for the video. I was just about to by this brand of camera but looks like i might have to go with another brand. Thank you for the heads up.

Nothing to do with your video, but something just happened with one of my eufy cams that I feel compelled to put out there. It's 3:30 am and I had to go out to my kitchen. As I was moving between the fridge and my bench top, the cam I have on a shelf, suddenly turned on, ie lights for night vision came on. This cam is a spare that is rarely used, only turning on if we are holidaying, certainly never when we are home. I went to the app to see if it was somehow on, but was definitely turned off. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but this has definitely made me wonder if we are being watched all the time, even when we think we are not.

You mention that Reolink offers cloud storage as an alternative. You do realise that Eufy has cloud storage as well, right? Would love to see how the cloud storage would handle the sync button issue.

Eufy customer service is a nightmare to deal with, I have been talking to them for 4 weeks and not only they give me false information they are not honoring their warranty terms, I paid $600 for S330 and one of the cameras isn't working. Eufy customer service has been jerking me around and not changing my Camera.