Doesn't this break the terms of service for most ISPs? I remember during the last crypto-craze, there were attempts to monetize this resharing with tokens of some sort and the ISP's put an end to that real quick with legal threats against anyone reselling their internet. Even if this is free Amazon sharing, I'm sure some business is being built off of it?
Amazon US customers given one week to opt out of mass wireless sharing
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Re: Amazon US customers given one week to opt out of mass wireless sharing
#92How does this work with data caps? Is Amazon going to reimburse me for overage charges from my ISP if my neighbors are using my data?
Amazon notes this in their FAQ: it's capped at 80kbps and max of 500MB per month. I don't know if this includes Bluetooth though.
If you’re at 99.9% of your (small) cap, the Amazon device won’t know that.
Re: Amazon US customers given one week to opt out of mass wireless sharing
#93How does this work with data caps? Is Amazon going to reimburse me for overage charges from my ISP if my neighbors are using my data?
Amazon notes this in their FAQ: it's capped at 80kbps and max of 500MB per month. I don't know if this includes Bluetooth though.
Sounds like a fun project for the future Black Hack conf: Implement tor / torrent on top of Amazon mash network and break all the bandwidth limits.
Re: Amazon US customers given one week to opt out of mass wireless sharing
#94Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's the same thing Apple is doing. They want every device to be a part of a low-power BLE network for Apple AirTags or Amazon Echo Tiles or whatever they are. They want a huge network so that these small low power devices can use everyones devices to connect to the internet. For what it's worth, the only way to Opt-Out from Apple's broad network like this is to disable all "Find My" network tracking, so you'll never…
To be honest, I find these ad hoc mobile mesh networks fascinating. With cheap flash, we could do a lot of high-latency high-bandwidth data transport with just existing movements. We could eliminate telecoms overnight but we just don’t have the organization to do it. Like, every house used to have a VHF/UHF receiving tower on it.
Does it not also introduce the possibility of introducing possible vulnerabilities by sharing connections? I generally have a pretty good idea of what I’m doing on a network, but now my neighbor might be up to no good on my network and that seems like it would be a potentially big problem.
Re: Amazon US customers given one week to opt out of mass wireless sharing
#95What will happen is some high profile company that has a few Amazon devices on their network will have these devices exploited to gain network access and get hit with some ransomware/data theft/etc... and then there will be a big legal battle between Amazon and the hacked company and this whole idea will be shut down and consumers will get a $10 class action settlement for each device.
>consumers will get a $10 class action settlement for each device.
Worse, it would likely be settled in the same way the Ticketmaster case was settled ... with a 10% off coupon for a Prime membership.
Re: Amazon US customers given one week to opt out of mass wireless sharing
#96Big Brother won't be a boot on the face, forever, it will be private enterprise mesh network that comes wrapped in charming corporate market babble.
"Telescreens help keep you connected with your friends and relatives. They monitor activity and upload anonymous usage statistics that help make our products even better. Telescreens help make society safe and secure, ensuring that you can enjoy your choice of government-approved home activities without a worry. Stay protected from roving bands of child-raping coke addicts! Try our new HappyFace(tm) mood-altering brain implants, guaranteed to put a smile on your face and stamp out that pesky thoughtcrime!"
Re: Amazon US customers given one week to opt out of mass wireless sharing
#97Article doesn't mention it, but this is how you opt-out (there are others but this one has screenshots). https://www.tomsguide.com/reference/what-is-amazon-sidewalk Added to my list for the next time I'm on the phone with my parents, for our (weekly at this point) how-to sessions on "stopping the industry I work in from spying on you". I really, really wish product managers would understand the kind of ecosystem they…
Every time this Sidewalk concern style story crops up (which it has several times over the last 6-12 months), I have rechecked that Sidewalk is disabled. So far I have not found it set to anything except for disabled. I hope Amazon isn’t doing a gradual roll out to enable, as if I find it enabled at any point in the future, I am done with Amazon devices in my home.
As far as I’m concerned based on Amazon Logistics performance in my area and the impact to the quality of other delivery carriers in my area, Amazon is not afraid to engage in a race to the bottom in the name of market share and profits. Opting me in to Sidewalk will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back and sends me to anyone else except for Amazon when shopping.
Re: Amazon US customers given one week to opt out of mass wireless sharing
#98Earlier quoted context omitted.
To be honest, I find these ad hoc mobile mesh networks fascinating. With cheap flash, we could do a lot of high-latency high-bandwidth data transport with just existing movements. We could eliminate telecoms overnight but we just don’t have the organization to do it. Like, every house used to have a VHF/UHF receiving tower on it.
Does it not also introduce the possibility of introducing possible vulnerabilities by sharing connections? I generally have a pretty good idea of what I’m doing on a network, but now my neighbor might be up to no good on my network and that seems like it would be a potentially big problem.
Depends how it’s structured. At best, you’re like a TOR relay and have no real idea of what’s going in or out.
But if you act like an exit node, you could be screwed if you live in a place where an IP is enough to be found guilty and nobody runs a public wifi. But you can always tunnel your outside traffic out over TOR.
Re: Amazon US customers given one week to opt out of mass wireless sharing
#99I'd rather go without internet than have one of these damned smart devices in my house. I can't believe how popular they are.
I have my IoT/IoS devices cordoned off onto their own network locally (with internet access, of course) as a matter of trying to protect my LAN from any exploit. However, I find the convenience of these devices to be extremely high: they play music, they give us convenient timers, they function as a whole house intercom, they tell us the weather and answer (often poorly) some random questions without going to get our…
The whole IoT thing just goes to show how... unique many people on HN are. I get it, it's a risk, etc. but IMO the convenience is massive. I do the same as you do, its a bit more work but it works fine for my use case. Use reputable products and segment them and the attack vector is rather small, IMO. I also try to not use wifi devices and instead go for something like zwave.
Re: Amazon US customers given one week to opt out of mass wireless sharing
#100I’ve seen a couple other articles like this that that to “both sides” this by claiming Apple does it with AirTags. Seems pretty disingenuous, feels like comparing faxing documents to the internet…
I've seen this, too. Apple: Their device: "Hi, I'm an AirTag! This is my serial number!" Your device: "hey Apple, I was at (X, Y) when I saw this serial number." Amazon: Their device: "Hi, can I send traffic through your network?" Your device: "sure, buddy!" They're so fundamentally different that I pretty much assume a bad faith argument from people who say they're similar.
The other major difference is that you directly benefit from Find My and you can also turn it off any time you want.