Recap: When Anker launched a campaign earlier this year inviting Eufy security camera owners to submit footage of package or vehicle thefts, the company framed it as a way to make its AI models smarter. In exchange, users could earn a small payout – just $2 per clip – by uploading videos of real or even staged incidents. But while Anker presented the initiative as a crowdsourced upgrade to its security algorithms, it provided users with little transparency about how the footage would ultimately be used or stored.
The initiative, which ran from December 18, 2024, to February 25, 2025, was aimed at expanding the dataset used to train Eufy's computer vision systems, which power its line of home security cameras. On its website, Anker encouraged participants to simulate thefts – such as someone pretending to steal a package or open a car door – to help the algorithm better identify suspicious activity.
"You can even create events by pretending to be a thief," the company wrote. It assured users that the submitted footage would be used "solely for training our AI algorithms and not for any other purposes."
According to archived web pages and user comments, more than 120 participants joined the campaign. Eufy reportedly set collection goals of 20,000 videos each for package thefts and car-door "pulling" incidents and directed users to a Google Form to upload their videos and provide PayPal information for payment.
However, the company did not respond to TechCrunch's questions about how many videos were collected, how much participants were paid, or whether the data was deleted after use.
Eufy has continued to solicit user footage for AI training through similar campaigns. Its in-app Video Donation Program encourages users to share clips "involving humans" in exchange for digital badges or small gifts such as cameras and gift cards. An "Honor Wall" within the app lists top contributors; one user has reportedly uploaded more than 200,000 videos. Eufy says the submitted footage is used only for AI training and is not shared with third parties.
The company also invites owners of its baby monitors to contribute recordings to help improve detection features, though this initiative offers no financial incentive. Eufy did not respond to questions about this program.
Tech companies are increasingly paying or rewarding users for the data that powers their AI models, a trend that raises ongoing concerns about privacy and data security. Those risks became evident last month when Neon, a viral calling app that paid users for access to call recordings, was found to have exposed recordings and transcripts due to a security flaw before shutting down.
Eufy's own privacy record has faced scrutiny before. In 2023, The Verge reported that Anker had misrepresented Eufy's encryption protections after discovering that users' supposedly end-to-end encrypted camera streams could be accessed unencrypted through a web browser. Anker later admitted the issue and said it would take steps to correct it.
Anker paid Eufy owners $2 per video to train its AI (even for staged thefts)
