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We're Surrounded by Billions of Internet-Connected Devices. Can We Trust Them?

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Re: We're Surrounded by Billions of Internet-Connected Devices. Can We Trust Them?

#21

Post by dvdhnt »

semiotagonal wrote: post #19
Ensorceled wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the person you are replying to would also dislike this feature in a Tesla.

That's true, I'm not looking to buy a Tesla. I'd include touchscreens as another problem but that's separate from the article's subject.

I appreciate your consistency.

We've been looking to buy an electric vehicle and thought Tesla was a no-brainer. Random reports of software issues have persuaded us to wait.

Now, I'm learning there are more options from more mature brands that just don't receive as much attention as Tesla.

Re: We're Surrounded by Billions of Internet-Connected Devices. Can We Trust Them?

#23

Post by ZenModeRy »

dvdhnt wrote: post #21
semiotagonal wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's true, I'm not looking to buy a Tesla. I'd include touchscreens as another problem but that's separate from the article's subject.

I appreciate your consistency. We've been looking to buy an electric vehicle and thought Tesla was a no-brainer. Random reports of software issues have persuaded us to wait. Now, I'm learning there are more options from more mature brands that just don't receive as much attention as Tesla.

According to a Bloomberg survey of 5,000 model 3 owners, 98% say they would buy it again and the vehicle had surpassed their expectations. 99% percent of respondents said they would recommend the Model 3 to their family or friends.

I live in Puerto Rico where a Tesla doesn't make much sense due to the infrastructure, but these numbers still made my neck hurt with a little bit with FOMO.

Re: We're Surrounded by Billions of Internet-Connected Devices. Can We Trust Them?

#25

Post by IHLayman »

jodrellblank wrote: post #10
pjc50 wrote: post #7

I don't think they can be trusted to be either secure or reliable or even supported. Any of them could be remotely disabled at any time as the parent company goes out of business. On the other hand, at the moment they're mostly in frivolous devices. As they become ubiquitous this is going to demand EU-level intervention, just like the existing WEEE directive against lockout chips on printer cartridges. Americans will…

caveat the neighbour of the emptor, whatever that is in Latin. Your neighbour’s video doorbell will have the easiest time picking up on your face, but your neighbour’s cloud WiFi AP will surely see your WiFi devices coming and going in WiFi range through the day, and how long will it be before Siri is listening to your upstairs neighbor’s footsteps and telling you they’re unusually quiet for this time of the week and…

In a related vein of your comment: "After being challenged as to whether homeowners should tell guests smart devices - such as a Google Nest speaker or Amazon Echo display - are in use before they enter the building, he concludes that the answer is indeed yes."[0]

* [0]: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-50048144

Re: We're Surrounded by Billions of Internet-Connected Devices. Can We Trust Them?

#26

Post by cevn »

dvdhnt wrote: post #21
semiotagonal wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's true, I'm not looking to buy a Tesla. I'd include touchscreens as another problem but that's separate from the article's subject.

I appreciate your consistency. We've been looking to buy an electric vehicle and thought Tesla was a no-brainer. Random reports of software issues have persuaded us to wait. Now, I'm learning there are more options from more mature brands that just don't receive as much attention as Tesla.

It's true that there are bugs in software updates. However my car has gotten 5% faster twice from 2 separate software updates. Never had this experience in another car and it's truly fantastic.

Re: We're Surrounded by Billions of Internet-Connected Devices. Can We Trust Them?

#27

Post by JohnFen »

I think the clear answer to this is "no" on a couple of different levels. I don't think it's safe to trust that the actual communications are properly secured, and I don't think it's safe to trust the companies that these devices report to.

Re: We're Surrounded by Billions of Internet-Connected Devices. Can We Trust Them?

#28

Post by JohnFen »

semiotagonal wrote: post #13

> But Kennedy's biggest concern at the moment is in the area of automotive safety No doubt. I was pricing out a Mercedes online, and looking through the summary one of the standard features was "over-the-air updates". That is the last thing in the world I want. An expensive car shouldn't be acting like an Android phone. It shouldn't be connected to the internet at all. If it's updating anything other than the enterta…

> looking through the summary one of the standard features was "over-the-air updates". That is the last thing in the world I want.

I agree. Under no circumstance would I buy a vehicle that is connected to the internet or is capable of wireless communications, unless I could physically disable that and still be able to use the vehicle.

The industry seems to differ, though, so I pretty much expect that any car I own in my lifetime will be a rather old one.

Re: We're Surrounded by Billions of Internet-Connected Devices. Can We Trust Them?

#30

Post by themaninthedark »

ZenModeRy wrote: post #23
dvdhnt wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I appreciate your consistency. We've been looking to buy an electric vehicle and thought Tesla was a no-brainer. Random reports of software issues have persuaded us to wait. Now, I'm learning there are more options from more mature brands that just don't receive as much attention as Tesla.

According to a Bloomberg survey of 5,000 model 3 owners, 98% say they would buy it again and the vehicle had surpassed their expectations. 99% percent of respondents said they would recommend the Model 3 to their family or friends. I live in Puerto Rico where a Tesla doesn't make much sense due to the infrastructure, but these numbers still made my neck hurt with a little bit with FOMO.

I am glad there are people who buy the Tesla and like it.

I was very excited when they were first announced and was heavily considering the Model 3 as an option before it was released. Then I started reading about the features; touch screen controls, OTA updates, telemetry. None of those things are features to me, they are detriments.

Touch screen means that I have to context switch when adjusting temp.

OTA updates means that my car can end up bricked or have a buggy update.

Telemetry is removal of my privacy.

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