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Sonos: users must accept new privacy policy or devices may “cease to function”

zdnet.com

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Re: Sonos: users must accept new privacy policy or devices may “cease to function”

#181

Post by bogomipz »

inopinatus wrote: post #146
cm2187 wrote: post #102

To be honest I had a pretty average experience with Sonos so far. It is connected with cat6 ethernet, professional switches, with no other connectivity problems on that network (and I tested all cables). I have 3 systems (pay1, play 5 and the sonos amp), and they keep losing track of each others, I have to regroup them regularly. They also struggle with long music tracks (i.e. 1h podcasts off a synology shared drive)…

Turn off the wireless interfaces. Instructions I followed which solved everything: https://bsteiner.info/articles/disabling-sonos-wifi Sonos's spanning tree implementation is problematic (and anachronistic: last I looked, it was using classic STP not RSTP). In a similar situation I've watched them flap away merrily, spitting constant topology change BPDUs at each other through both interfaces. It's not a pretty sight…

Interesting, why does Sonos need to run Spanning Tree over wifi if they use their own proprietary network(SonosNet) for inter device communication?

Re: Sonos: users must accept new privacy policy or devices may “cease to function”

#182

Post by pedrocr »

voltagex_ wrote: post #166
pedrocr wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If anyone is on the same boat here's the best non-smart/IoT/lock-in tech I've come up with for a single room setup with wireless speakers: 1) 4 to 1 HDMI splitter with audio out: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/HDSW4-HDMI-Switch-4X1-With-A... 2) Connect all your sources through HDMI (your PC, your TV box, a Chromecast, a raspberry, etc). There are versions with more inputs if you need that. That one has a nice simple…

Just a note - if you move to 4K+HDR you'll probably need to upgrade that splitter.

Indeed. I'm only running a 1080p projector so I was mostly looking for something that was cheap enough and had a very simple remote. That specific one looks great in that I can easily take a black marker and label the inputs 1 through 4 on the remote itself.

Re: Sonos: users must accept new privacy policy or devices may “cease to function”

#183

Post by bogomipz »

I am sincerely curious and maybe a Sonos owner can offer some feedback. what does Sonos offer me now that a streaming music provider, a smart phone and a portable bluetooth speaker doesn't?

I understand that Sonos can stream to multiple "zones" simultaneously but besides the occasion of a house party how often is this necessary?

This news to me is just another reason for me to never buy one.

Re: Sonos: users must accept new privacy policy or devices may “cease to function”

#184

Post by gamad »

pjc50 wrote: post #90
dvdhnt wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Individuals haven't owned much in a very long time; we've been physical serfs living on someone else's land for even longer. You only "own" something so long as you pay taxes (aka rents) for the right to do so, otherwise someone, usually the government, will take it from you. Even if you don't want to play along, you can only be somewhere public for so long until you're loitering and subject to fines (more rents), co…

Tax is not rent unless you're in an actual feudal system.

It's rent. If I don't pay my property taxes, the government will march in and take my house.

Re: Sonos: users must accept new privacy policy or devices may “cease to function”

#185

Post by gamad »

ethnic_throw wrote: post #91
dvdhnt wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Individuals haven't owned much in a very long time; we've been physical serfs living on someone else's land for even longer. You only "own" something so long as you pay taxes (aka rents) for the right to do so, otherwise someone, usually the government, will take it from you. Even if you don't want to play along, you can only be somewhere public for so long until you're loitering and subject to fines (more rents), co…

Taxes ≠ rents.

Property tax is.

Re: Sonos: users must accept new privacy policy or devices may “cease to function”

#186

Post by solomatov »

This problem should be solved in a legislative way, similar to Europe's GDPR. There should some minimum privacy rights which can't be opted out of and which are protected by government. That's the only viable solution. Markets don't help here.

Re: Sonos: users must accept new privacy policy or devices may “cease to function”

#187

Post by sverige »

givinguflac wrote: post #173
MikeGale wrote: post #150

I suspect that legislators are so far behind the curve on this, that they'll never protect decent humans from such guys. Answer: Forget the protection afforded by the state. Protect yourself. Blacklist the scum manufacturers, warn your acquaintances. What other suggestions.

Have you even read what data is being collected? Sonos is not a scum company, though the article is providing badly inaccurate info.

Sorry, but any company that wants to collect my personal data just to continue using their product after I've purchased it, is scum.

Re: Sonos: users must accept new privacy policy or devices may “cease to function”

#188

Post by pedrocr »

givinguflac wrote: post #177
pedrocr wrote: post #133

Anyone have another suggestion for a pair of wifi speakers that can be assigned to Left/Right to get stereo and can be network streamed to and have another device on the network with a line-in? I was about to buy 2 Play1's and a Connect to do a stereo install in a room where I don't want to run speaker cable. I had researched wackier home-built solutions and was going to give up and go for the Sonos. Now I'm once aga…

I'm really interested to know what specifically you're concerned about. This article is just inaccurate. You can opt out of usage data, so what is the privacy issue for you personally?

What's described in the article is just one example of how depending on a closed system like the Sonos can burn me further down the line. The setup I've described takes advantage of the HDMI standard to not depend on any specific vendor and even fixes the 70ms Sonos line-in delay. Since I've even priced it out at slightly cheaper than the Sonos with probably better speakers (2x JBL LSR 305 vs the Play1's) I think the only advantage the Sonos retains for me is really the better industrial design.

Re: Sonos: users must accept new privacy policy or devices may “cease to function”

#189

Post by programmarchy »

solomatov wrote: post #186

This problem should be solved in a legislative way, similar to Europe's GDPR. There should some minimum privacy rights which can't be opted out of and which are protected by government. That's the only viable solution. Markets don't help here.

Why wouldn't the market help? This is a great opportunity for a competitor to offer privacy features and capture market share with a better offering. Promise privacy in perpetuity or your money back, and if consumers care then they will switch.

Re: Sonos: users must accept new privacy policy or devices may “cease to function”

#190

Post by badwolf »

bogomipz wrote: post #176
Sir_Substance wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>They implicitly agree under duress, because their time is worth far too much to even read 10 pages of fine print for every product they use. I'm not being flippant; it bloody well is. You don't need to read 10 pages of fine print for every product, because it's functionally the same fine print for every product. If you don't like this, don't ever buy smart devices because they /all/ reserve the right to do this kind…

>"If you don't like this, don't ever buy smart devices because they /all/ reserve the right to do this kind of stuff." It seems odd then that you have to actually buy the device before you can even read the terms. I guess the idea is that you can always return it if you don't agree?

"That'll be a $25 restocking fee, and a $25 open-box fee"
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