Anker, the Chinese electronics company behind the Eufy brand of smart home devices, launched a campaign offering users $2 per video to help train its AI systems. The initiative, which ran from December 18, 2024, to February 25, 2025, invited Eufy camera owners to submit videos of package and car thefts—both real and staged—in exchange for payment. The company encouraged users to simulate theft scenarios, such as opening a car door, with the potential to earn up to $80 for a single event captured across two outdoor cameras. Eufy stated that the data collected would be used exclusively for training AI models and not shared with third parties. The company asked participants to upload videos via a Google Form and provide their PayPal details for payment. Despite the clear incentives, Eufy has not responded to requests for information on how many users participated, how much was paid out, how many videos were collected, or whether the footage was deleted after use. More than 120 users publicly shared their participation on the campaign’s announcement page. The company aimed to gather 20,000 videos each for package theft and car door theft scenarios. Since the initial campaign, Eufy has continued similar efforts through an in-app program called the Video Donation Program. This newer initiative offers non-monetary rewards such as badges, gift cards, and even free cameras, depending on the number of videos donated. An “Honor Wall” in the app ranks top contributors, with one user listed as having donated over 200,000 videos. Eufy also asks users to share videos recorded by its baby monitors, though no financial compensation is mentioned for these submissions. The company has not clarified whether these recordings are also used for AI training. The campaign highlights a growing trend: companies are increasingly willing to pay users for data that can improve AI performance. However, such efforts raise serious privacy and security concerns. A recent example is Neon, a calling app that offered money for call recordings but was shut down after a security flaw allowed users to access others’ private data. Eufy’s track record on privacy is also questionable. In 2023, The Verge reported that Eufy’s camera streams—advertised as end-to-end encrypted—were not actually encrypted when accessed through the company’s web portal. After public scrutiny, Anker admitted to misleading users and promised to fix the issue. While Eufy claims donated videos are used only for AI training and not shared externally, the lack of transparency around data handling and past security lapses make users cautious. As AI development accelerates, the line between user contribution and data exploitation becomes increasingly blurred.