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Amazon US customers given one week to opt out of mass wireless sharing

theguardian.com

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Re: Amazon US customers given one week to opt out of mass wireless sharing

#171

Post by Dah00n »

philsnow wrote: post #74
Retric wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s so “smart” TV’s etc can send data home even if you don’t connect them to the internet. Longer term expect random devices you own to inject even more advertising into your daily life.

Amazon is going to sell access to Sidewalk to e.g. TV manufacturers (and anybody else), making money off of your internet connection. Before Sidewalk, if a device manufacturer wanted to be able to get sensor/environmental/etc data back to the mothership, it had to either pair to a phone with bluetooth, use wifi (needs creds), or include a 2g modem with a SIM (pretty expensive). A customer who doesn't see a need for t…

The fix is GDPR like laws. Then this wouldn't matter.

Re: Amazon US customers given one week to opt out of mass wireless sharing

#172

Post by enraged_camel »

dlhavema wrote: post #12
josefresco wrote: post #5

This page on Tom's Guide has good background, a list of devices and instructions on how to opt out. https://www.tomsguide.com/reference/what-is-amazon-sidewalk Amazon App> More > Settings > Account Settings > Amazon Sidewalk > Disable

Looks like I don't have the update yet. I don't see this menu option.

If you don't see the menu option that means none of your paired devices are compatible with Sidewalk.

List of supported devices at the bottom: https://www.cnet.com/home/smart-home/amazon-sidewalk-will-cr...

Re: Amazon US customers given one week to opt out of mass wireless sharing

#173

Post by philwelch »

teknopaul wrote: post #151
philwelch wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With all due respect, it’s a microphone connected to the internet that you are meant to install in your home. How are you surprised to see it used as a surveillance device?

no no no, you should not expect people to behave badly. I agree with the sentiment that it is a crying shame this technology could be used to help people for whom keyboards become complicated but instead it's used to trick them.

> no no no, you should not expect people to behave badly

Should you not?

There’s a bit of a spectrum of that. On one end of the spectrum, we all leave our front doors unlocked and our car keys in our parked cars in case someone is stranded and needs to borrow our car. Most of us don’t do that, but that’s what a truly high trust society looks like.

I think it’s prudent to expect any large tech company to violate our privacy to exactly the degree they are physically capable of. It doesn’t mean we should morally approve of them living down to our low expectations of them, any more than we should morally approve of burglars and car thieves exploiting the naivety of people who think they don’t need to lock up their homes and vehicles.

And yes, it is a crying shame that we live in a low-trust world.

Re: Amazon US customers given one week to opt out of mass wireless sharing

#174

Post by InitialLastName »

bobthechef wrote: post #160

Incidentally, how do people working at Amazon and other FAANGs justify their cooperation or even direct role in BigTech's onward march toward total control and saturation and its use of abusive and coercive practices? I'm sure many of them frequent HN. I'm sure many on HN would like to hear what they have to say.

1) It's green and smells like paper

2) [This is also true of military-industrial work] they get to solve all the best problems

Re: Amazon US customers given one week to opt out of mass wireless sharing

#175

Post by _ea1k »

failwhaleshark wrote: post #73

94.9% pure, organic, outrage, clickbait FUD. This feels like an "you're either with us or you're against us, Amazon B A D"-article. The central thesis is misleading and wrong because it's NOT "unlimited, direct sharing of your WiFi to whatever Amazon users happen to fall and scrape their knees outside your home because they can't skateboard," it's "likely low-rate connectivity for other Amazon users' devices over Blu…

I feel like 20 years ago we would have complimented them for such an ingenious solution to backup network capability for security related devices.

I don't love the lack of consent involved, but the concerns are way overblown here.

Re: Amazon US customers given one week to opt out of mass wireless sharing

#176

Post by deanCommie »

remarkEon wrote: post #68

Article 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…

"extend the low-bandwidth working range of devices to help find pets or valuables with Tile trackers, and help devices stay online even if they are outside the range of their home wifi"

Seems like a genuine customer problem. If you want to set up smart lights through your back yard, or a smart sensor at the edge of your driver, they might not have WiFi connectivity to the rest of your house.

Hence the Sidewalk metaphor - a mesh network allows the devices to hop access from one another.

There is also a pretty detailed Privacy/Security Whitepaper and it's important to point out this before any alarmist "Amazon is spying on you!" pearl clutching: https://m.media-amazon.com/images/G/01/sidewalk/final_privac...

Re: Amazon US customers given one week to opt out of mass wireless sharing

#177

Post by batmaniam »

> Users can disable Sidewalk in the settings section of the Alexa or Ring apps, but have until 8 June to do so. After that, if they have taken no action, the network will be turned on and their devices will become “Sidewalk Bridges”.

Wait so what if a user buys Alexa after June 8? Are they automatically enrolled into this mass wireless sharing program with no way out?

Re: Amazon US customers given one week to opt out of mass wireless sharing

#178

Post by amelius »

remarkEon wrote: post #68

Article 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…

Can't we have a strong consumer organization which can actually enforce that companies are not building stuff that works against the consumer?

Re: Amazon US customers given one week to opt out of mass wireless sharing

#179

Post by howolduis »

failwhaleshark wrote: post #73

94.9% pure, organic, outrage, clickbait FUD. This feels like an "you're either with us or you're against us, Amazon B A D"-article. The central thesis is misleading and wrong because it's NOT "unlimited, direct sharing of your WiFi to whatever Amazon users happen to fall and scrape their knees outside your home because they can't skateboard," it's "likely low-rate connectivity for other Amazon users' devices over Blu…

forcing customers into this feature with a short notice that the majority wouldnt even know about is the MAIN issue here.

"Where's the problem (other than opt-in vs. opt-out)?"

You make it sound like this is a side trivial issue, then it's the main issue here.

Re: Amazon US customers given one week to opt out of mass wireless sharing

#180

Post by howolduis »

slownews45 wrote: post #133
thepasswordis wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not "scary". It's my fucking network hardware, the power comes from my house, the data comes from my house. I pay for all of this stuff. Amazon wants to resell it without asking me. NO.

It's very unlikely that you have title to amazon's software. You may have a license to use their device and the related software subject to their terms, but that is VERY different than classical ownership. All the megacorps have gone this direction. Amazon is going to give you a constantly improving Alexa system and ecosystem and in return you are going to let them use sidewalk in most cases.

this is the equivalent of saying: "in return of living in a well-maintained nice neighborhood, you should not password-lock your wifi"
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