Earlier this year, Anker, the Chinese company behind Eufy security cameras, incentivized its users with cash in return for videos depicting package and car theft incidents.
The well-known maker of internet-enabled security cameras announced it would compensate customers $2 for each video submitted, aiming to enhance its AI’s ability to identify package and vehicle thieves.
“To gather enough material, we are seeking both authentic and staged footage to help teach the AI what to recognize,” the company stated on its website.
“You’re welcome to simulate theft scenarios and contribute those videos as well,” the site explains. “This process can be completed swiftly. For example, a single staged event might be captured by two of your outdoor cameras at once, making it simple and efficient. If you also act out a car door theft, you could potentially earn $80.”
Eufy further clarified that “all footage from these staged events is exclusively used for developing our AI algorithms and will not serve any other function.”
This approach highlights how companies are willing to pay for user-generated data they consider valuable for training AI models. While this allows some users to benefit from their own data, it also introduces potential privacy and security concerns.
For example, just last week, TechCrunch discovered that Neon, a popular calling app that paid users for sharing call recordings and transcripts, had a vulnerability that let users access others’ data. After being notified of the issue, Neon took its service offline.
Hundreds of thousands of videos ‘donated’ to train AI
Eufy’s offer of $2 per theft video ran from December 18, 2024, to February 25, 2025. Over 120 people commented on the campaign’s announcement page, indicating they took part, based on user posts there.
The company aimed to collect 20,000 videos each of package theft and “car door pulling.” Participants could join by submitting a Google Form with their videos and PayPal details for payment.
Eufy did not reply to TechCrunch’s inquiries about the campaign, including questions about the number of participants, total payouts, the volume of videos received, and whether the videos were deleted after AI training.
Since then, Eufy has launched similar initiatives to encourage customers to submit videos for AI training.
At the time of writing, Eufy is running another in-app campaign called the Video Donation Program, which offers users various rewards for contributing videos to improve its AI. Prizes range from an “Apprentice Medal”—a badge displayed next to the user’s name in the app—to items like cameras or gift cards.
For this campaign, Eufy is specifically requesting videos that feature people.
Within the app, there’s also an “Honor Wall” that showcases the top contributors of video events. The leading user has reportedly donated 201,531 videos, according to the app.
On the donation program’s app page, Eufy specifies that “donated videos are strictly used for AI training and improvement. Eufy will not share these videos with third parties.”
Image Credits:Eufy/Anker (screenshot) Eufy also encourages users to share footage captured by its baby monitors. However, the support page outlining the process does not mention any financial compensation for these submissions.
Eufy did not provide a response when questioned about this particular program.
There are reasons to question Eufy’s assurances regarding user privacy. In 2023, The Verge reported that the company attempted to conceal the fact that camera streams, which were advertised as end-to-end encrypted, were actually unencrypted when accessed via its web portal.
Following discussions with the tech news outlet, Anker acknowledged it had misinformed users and committed to resolving the problem.
This article was first published on October 1.
