Live data from Hacker News

Before buying Ring, WEMO or Roku, consider privacy issues

usatoday.com

81–90 of 115 posts

Re: Before buying Ring, WEMO or Roku, consider privacy issues

#81
post #35
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My minor kids' photos in some company's database, tagged with neighborhood data which points to where they live, correlated with what characters they like based on costumes, correlated with their age based on their height and so and so forth.. Now if the said company can connect my kids' photos with their identity based on some other database, it will have a lot more info on them to sell ads and for other nefarious p…

Do you actually believe this is happening? No offense, but what you’re describing sounds like a paranoid fantasy. Moreover, I’m sure your kids value candy more than privacy. Also your kids have probably been caught on video hundreds of times at convenience stores, streets, wherever. If you actually wanted to avoid them being on camera at all, you would have to lock them in your house and things would turn out like th…

There's a vast difference between CCTV for security that's generally overwritten once a week and data that's stored without consent of even the owner of the device specifically to profit off of your behavior. We are well past time that this information needs to be protected and regulated because this is our information about us and we have no control over how it's being used.

Re: Before buying Ring, WEMO or Roku, consider privacy issues

#82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't want a camera on your doorbell? Don't install one. I would like to have the freedom to decide differently.

Do I have the freedom not to be filmed by your doorbell and have it sent to the police without even your permission to be processed and stored for however long they want and possibly used against me at a later date for something that isn't even a crime now?

Sure. Just stay off my porch.

Re: Before buying Ring, WEMO or Roku, consider privacy issues

#84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh I haven't given up at all. My cell phone service expires Dec 10 never to be renewed. The massive amount of data your phone collects about you is quite relevant. Thanks for the downvotes which have now throttled my new account, and given me a bit of a bad impression of the community here. Can you explain what you mean by "your handle betrays you?"

You're new here. I suggest you read the rules of you haven't (it's to get an idea for how comments are handled and expectations). Comments tend to get downvoted if they do not add to the conversation. I'd give it a bit of time to learn how HN works before making up your mind. I get downvoted all the time, but if you're posting comments of value you can expect your karma to increase over time.

[deleted]

Re: Before buying Ring, WEMO or Roku, consider privacy issues

#85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh I haven't given up at all. My cell phone service expires Dec 10 never to be renewed. The massive amount of data your phone collects about you is quite relevant. Thanks for the downvotes which have now throttled my new account, and given me a bit of a bad impression of the community here. Can you explain what you mean by "your handle betrays you?"

You're new here. I suggest you read the rules of you haven't (it's to get an idea for how comments are handled and expectations). Comments tend to get downvoted if they do not add to the conversation. I'd give it a bit of time to learn how HN works before making up your mind. I get downvoted all the time, but if you're posting comments of value you can expect your karma to increase over time.

[deleted]

Re: Before buying Ring, WEMO or Roku, consider privacy issues

#86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh I haven't given up at all. My cell phone service expires Dec 10 never to be renewed. The massive amount of data your phone collects about you is quite relevant. Thanks for the downvotes which have now throttled my new account, and given me a bit of a bad impression of the community here. Can you explain what you mean by "your handle betrays you?"

You're new here. I suggest you read the rules of you haven't (it's to get an idea for how comments are handled and expectations). Comments tend to get downvoted if they do not add to the conversation. I'd give it a bit of time to learn how HN works before making up your mind. I get downvoted all the time, but if you're posting comments of value you can expect your karma to increase over time.

Been lurking and reading the articles for 3 years.

Re: Before buying Ring, WEMO or Roku, consider privacy issues

#87

The further down this future we travel, the less I want to do with technology. I am becoming a Luddite. None of this crappy IOT stuff will enter my home.

Yeah it's dystopian as hell. What an incredible amount of waste, too. The storage, the engineering hours that go into it, the electricity and bandwidth...all to track you a little better so you can be sold more shit.

I can't share this sentiment that it's all to track and sell you shit. It probably started out as a good idea, a virtual assistant that can tell you stuff by you just asking it with natural speech. But since this is capitalism, sadly someone asked "But how can we make money out of this?".

Re: Before buying Ring, WEMO or Roku, consider privacy issues

#88

The further down this future we travel, the less I want to do with technology. I am becoming a Luddite. None of this crappy IOT stuff will enter my home.

My roommate has a phone. I didn't think much of it until he said "Ok Google" while cooking. What am I supposed to say here? I don't like microphones being always on either, but it's his phone and his home too. I can't escape the millions of cameras around the city or the constant internet trackers. We should have had regulated this stuff decades ago.

Law and regulation are always lagged behind of new technology. I think there is going to be a pivotal moment (maybe the introduction of GDPR was already) when we start to go after our privacy. My apartment is also free of Google, Amazon, Facebook microphones. Unless there is a vendor that gives me a device that stores data a way that only I can access there is no way I am going to buy any of these devices.

Re: Before buying Ring, WEMO or Roku, consider privacy issues

#89

"We take your privacy seriously" has replaced "Don't be evil" as one of the greatest laugh-out-loud lies in tech.

It's most hilarious when the statement is made by some fly-by-night startup with no real assets or obligation to perform.

It's seconded only by "Don't worry, I won't put this on the internet."

Re: Before buying Ring, WEMO or Roku, consider privacy issues

#90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do I have the freedom not to be filmed by your doorbell and have it sent to the police without even your permission to be processed and stored for however long they want and possibly used against me at a later date for something that isn't even a crime now?

Sure. Just stay off my porch.

And don’t walk by my house? For that matter, don’t bother visiting me?
Post reply on HN