Google has released video of an apparent intruder breaking into Nancy Guthrie’s home, providing a major breakthrough in the investigation into her disappearance.
84 year old mother today show Host Savannah Guthrie has been missing since February 1st. The Nest camera on her front door was removed and the video is believed to be missing because investigators say she failed to pay for a paid subscription. But yesterday, the FBI finally shared footage of a masked, armed suspect entering her home the night she disappeared.
CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter reported that Google’s technical expertise provided a breakthrough that could help investigators solve the case.
“Nest owner Google was able to recover data from a Nest-made doorbell camera on Guthrie’s front door,” Stelter wrote on X . “The recovery process took several days and was so technically complex that investigators had no idea whether it would be successful,” he added, citing law enforcement sources.
But the video also raises some troubling questions about digital privacy and surveillance.
“I’m lucky with this case, but don’t know how I feel about them documenting everything – I don’t have access unless I pay,” one X user said in response to Stelter’s post.
“CNN is promoting the state of Big Tech surveillance today instead of treating it as a massive privacy invasion,” another wrote.
Google did not immediately respond wealthRequest for comment.
Nest, subscriptions and privacy
Video released by investigators shows the Nest logo. This is Google’s $150 home camera device. Customers who don’t pay a subscription can see live footage as well as activity alerts at their doorstep. A premium subscription for $10 to $20 per month means videos can be stored and accessed later.
The internet-enabled Nest doorbell, which costs about $150, can record video and alert homeowners to sounds and movements at their door. Owners can pay a monthly fee to access advanced features such as long-term video history. However, new york times Ms. Guthrie did not pay for a subscription to store the video, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos reported, suggesting she may only have access to live video and that the historical footage may be stored on a server somewhere in Google’s vast data centers.
Ring, the Amazon-owned doorbell camera company, has built a growing system that allows police to view posts on its Neighbors app and request video footage from users. By 2023, more than 2,600 police departments will have some kind of formal partnership with Ring.
This has prompted ongoing criticism from civil liberties and technology advocacy groups as a form of unwarranted online surveillance that could promote over-policing and bias. Some groups recommend that if people insist on using doorbell cameras, they should disable law enforcement integration and avoid using cloud storage if possible to reduce the risk of secondary use or forced disclosure.
In a 2024 blog post, Ring said it would retire a tool that allowed law enforcement to request access camera footage. It reversed its 2025 decision and announced a partnership with law enforcement technology company Axon. Under the new setup, police will be able to question Ring owners for relevant footage through Axon’s digital evidence system, and Ring is exploring an opt-in feature that would let users livestream camera footage directly to law enforcement. Ring’s returning founder, Jamie Siminoff, sees this as strengthening ties between “neighbors” and public safety agencies.
The Nancy Guthrie case highlights growing unease about the degree to which Nest and Ring-style devices give technology companies and law enforcement control over intimate recordings of people’s homes. Connected doorbells may help solve serious crimes, but they also create always-on, cloud-stored records of family life that are subject to opaque retention policies, porous data-sharing rules, and public attitudes that may be “too comfortable” with pervasive surveillance that penetrates from public streets into private homes.
This story originally appeared on Fortune.com
