Forget not that I am a derp.
Quick PSA: If you have an Alexa, Echo, or other Amazon smart device, you may want to take a look at this article. I'm not saying you should opt out of this grand experiment. I am saying you should be aware of it if you weren't already.
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ITS A GOVERNMENT CONSPIRACY
I am!
Just because privacy is dead doesn't mean you should dance on its grave.
Yeah, that doesn't sound shady at all!
Interesting. Aside from what appears to be mild wealth redistribution in regards to bandwidth, I wonder what the intended benefits (to Amazon) are supposed to be. (Because that's what matters to the people who cam up with this, I'm assuming.)
Fortunately, since my nearest neighbor is a half mile away as the crow flies, this will remain of academic interest to me.
5526872
Isn't the head of Amazon the one who came up with "profitless prosperity"? Just saying, I'm not convinced that this actually needs to make any kind of sense for them.
I refuse to buy one of those, so I'm good.
I know at least one "consumer" (not a business/SOHO) ISP in my country that does something like this with their* Wi-Fi internet routers (to provide Wi-Fi roaming to all their clients), but unlike with the Amazon
.
spyconvenience devices it's easy to believe that it won't interfere with "your" (W)LAN (as it's really easy to isolate both networks and it is in the ISP's very best interest to not let any random device pwn your things and vice-versa) and that it won't eat into your data caps***: There's no Bring Your Own Modem/etc in my country (and the returns from my limited experience seem to go straight to the bin
).
).
**: Mostly academic since no wired/fibre ISP has data caps for home connections. It could still eat into your bandwidth, but only likely if you're on the higher bandwidths already (which admittedly is the worst case to annoy people
5526860
More like a corporate conspiracy.
5526864
Same here. Personal privacy is experiencing the kind of devastating erosion that public health saw in the golden age of nicotine, the difference being that Joe Camel/Bezos/Zuckerberg is pushing this stuff on tech-illiterate seniors just as much as tech-savvy kids.
5526872
All of Amazon's connected devices (and their partner's connected devices) will get low-bandwidth internet access just about anywhere*, for free**
*or at least nearby wherever the suckers live
**at the potential expense of said suckers and without their overt knowledge or consent
Ok, so... how does this actually work? From the way the article is written, it makes it seem like it allows your neighbors and passersby a slice of your bandwidth for Sidewalk-enabled devices to check in, but then in the next paragraph makes it seem as though said neighbors and passersby will actually get full Internet access on your connection.
Which is it Ars Technica?
I am!
Let me put it this way; if you were already worried about someone using your wifi to hack or Alexa, or god help you, your Amazon smart locks, this compounds the problem by making the devices into their own wifi routers projecting networks outside of end user control. This seems especially a bad move as these devices have already been exploited by: the government, organized crime, foreign governments, and your friendly neighborhood script kiddie. Not to mention that if you have a data cap, 500MB isn't nothing.
Take it from someone who has to deal with computers on even a very low level - do not let Amazon hook your fucking door up to your neighbor's Alexa. Just don't. In fact, if you have Amazon controlling any vital function of your house - don't! Stop! Smart homes are a damn trap.
We won't touch smart devices (we're both computer engineers) but I def notified Dad. Thanks.
5527014
Do we know for sure that's how this works? Because everything that I've been reading (meaning everything I've been able to find and actually understand) indicates that any one Echo device is broadcasting a Bluetooth network and not a WiFi network, and in fact does not contain the necessary hardware to broadcast WiFi at all.
Am I mistaken?
5527072 The only smart device you should trust is one you build yourself.
Can be fun, too.
...How nice.
Thank you for the PSA; it doesn't affect me personally, because I've been staying away from those devices for exactly this sort of reason, but it's good to have the information out there for people.
(Technically, I do have one. That I got as a gift, years ago, and that's still in its box inside the plastic wrapping, as I recall. I've not really been sure what to do with it.)
5527111
A housemate of mine actually did do that, albeit not completely from scratch, with one of these.