(Indoor) Camera Recording when System is Off

@davey_d​ are there any plans to tie this to the alarm state? It is extremely annoying to have the spotlight switch on every few seconds while relaxing on the patio with the alarm off. Not to mention the lower battery life. I realize I can turn the spotlight off, but that kind of defeats the purpose if I want it to work at night while I'm asleep and the alarm is active.

Edit: talking about the outdoor camera obviously

@davey_d  I have the same issue, and resetting via the top button does not help. Neither does disabling motion sensing. It’d be great if Simplisafe could add privacy shutter support via software or firmware

I’m having the same problem with one indoor camera. It’s detecting motion and recording when the system is off. It’s creepy. When I report it I’m told that I shouldn’t worry because SimpliSafe can’t see anything if there is no alarm. How do I know that!!? Creepy.

@flourchild45​ in your app under that camera makes sure you have the privacy shutter and motion off on off mode if not even when the alarm is off it will detect you and start recording and send youa notification. 

All the settings were correct and all of my cameras had the same settings—only one camera recorded while the system was off. SimpliSafe confirmed and ended up sending me a new camera. But I believe the problem is still out there and I didn’t get assurances that SimpliSafe knows why or wants to publicly acknowledge the problem. 

@balloonpilot1​ If your indoor camera's Privacy Shutter is set to Open while your system is in Off Mode, it will still store any recordings it films in our servers - the same as it does when you system is in Home and Off mode. But please know that at SimpliSafe, we believe that privacy and security go hand-in-hand. All of your videos are encrypted, and no one (not even SimpliSafe staff,) can access them but you.

Happening to me now. Indoor camera shutter is set to closed when system is "off". After nearly a year of using the system all of a sudden, I am getting notifications of motion while "off". Physically looking at the camera the shutter is open. If I set the "away" mode to closed then the shutter closes. If I set "away" back to open, the shutter opens again. Something is broken., I'm turning off motion detection for this camera until I hear a resolution. THIS IS NOT what anyone should consider normal behavior.

Same here!  When alarm is set to "home," and shutter is "closed," camera is detecting motion and recording.  Not cool.

@sharonperlmutter​ @rhallman @balloonpilot1 thanks all for reporting. Just wanted to check in to let you know that our internal team is investigating similar cases.

I did want to ask just so we're sure, do you all have the Smart Alarm Indoor Camera (the white model) or the SimpliCam (the black model)?

And also sharonperlmutter, you do mention specifically that this is happening for you in Home Mode. Do you happen to have Secret Alerts set up for any of your sensors? That registers in our system as an "alarm" type, so it does trigger recordings.

It is the black one

Yes, I have secret alerts set on some motion detectors, but it is the camera itself that's activating (nobody is near the other detectors, but is walking past the camera).

@amorgana​ thank you for reporting. If I could ask, do you have the SimpliCam (the black model) or the Smart Alarm Indoor Camera (the white model)? 

We want you to know that we're taking your concerns very seriously and are already investigating.

I have the same issue. Black indoor camera. 

Motion on - shutter setting  closed on home and off modes  - camera still recording 

I am having the same issue. It is the black simplicam. I double checked the settings, and the camera is set not to record when the system is off, but I still get motion recordings in the app.

@OrchidGal​ that sounds more like the normal behavior. The camera is designed to record when you disarm, regardless of the state of the shutter.

@sharonperlmutter​ Whenever you disarm your system into Home or Off modes, your indoor cameras will film a short recording, regardless of its Privacy Shutter setting. This is an intentional feature so you can see who disarmed your system. 

Well, that only makes sense if you have the camera pointing at the control pad. That should be able to be disabled.

@emily_s​ I never said it happened while I was disarming the system. 

The system is armed to home. 

The camera privacy shutter is set to closed. 

The camera detects motion and records.  BECAUSE IT HAS DETECTED MOTION.  Even though it is not supposed to be detecting motion because of the settings.

I don't mean to get grumpy here, but this has been happening for Literally Years, and I would've thought you'd have figured out the necessary fix by now.

That’s the question I can’t get an answer for. When my system was disarmed and completely off, one of my cameras would record for no reason. And I wouldn’t know unless I looked at the history—no alert was given. And it wasn’t all the time, just random. They ended up sending me a new camera, after they tried to tell me I didn’t understand the settings or had them wrong. They finally investigated on their end and saw that it was happening. Never got a firm answer as to why. They sent a new camera and asked me to return the old one.

Did the new camera fix the issue?

I just spoke with Customer Support. If there are any Secret Alerts configured, the camera will take a video no matter what the settings are for the camera. So, when the sliding door is opened upstairs, the camera is taking an empty video downstairs even if it is Disabled with Motion off. Support said this is how it is supposed to work...no idea why though.

The issue for me  isn't notifications. The issue is that even though I'm telling my camera to close the shutter, it is still "watching" what is taking place in my residence. Turning off notifications will prevent you from knowing that you are being filmed, but it won't prevent the filming from taking place. 

Turning off notifications could also potentially lead to "false alarms". Local emergency personnel could be sent to your home because you simply didn't know that there had been an alert. 

I have pulled the plug on this indoor camera. Until this issue is resolved, I'll go with cameras on the interior of my home which I can control. 

@JayLee it sounds like your camera is responding as intended. If you are subscribed to a monitoring plan that includes camera recordings, your indoor camera will film a short video whenever you disarm your system. This is an intentional feature so you can have footage of who disarmed your system.

@srb42 the indoor camera comes with a Privacy Shutter that physically covers the camera's lens. When the Privacy Shutter is on, the camera should not record any motion. We recommend checking the camera's settings in the SimpliSafe mobile app to see if the Privacy Shutter is on in Off Mode. 

To do this, go to My System > Camera Settings > select [your camera] > under Camera Behavior, select Off > toggle Motion Detection Off. 

But please know that all of your videos are encrypted, and only you have access to them. No one at SimpliSafe can see them. 

You can also disable the Base Station's chime whenever an Entry Sensor is opened in the SimpliSafe app. To do this, go to My System > Base Station Settings > Entry Sensor Chime and then drag the slider bar over to Off.