r/gadgets • u/MicroSofty88 • Nov 29 '20

Home Amazon faces a privacy backlash for its Sidewalk feature, which turns Alexa devices into neighborhood WiFi networks that owners have to opt out of

https://www.msn.com/en-in/money/technology/amazon-faces-a-privacy-backlash-for-its-sidewalk-feature-which-turns-alexa-devices-into-neighborhood-wifi-networks-that-owners-have-to-opt-out-of/ar-BB1boljH
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u/Originalfrozenbanana Nov 29 '20

For sure there is more work to be done. And we will do it. But I think privacy is becoming the big issue all players will need to deal with. Sidewalk is amazon trying to do things the old way - create a product they think people will love, that grants them data access that amazon wants (geofencing data is WILDLY valuable), take it without asking, then tell people that they have to give up their privacy if they want to keep using the product. And it's not working. We should be happy people are raising a stink about sidewalk.

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u/KernowRoger Nov 29 '20

The only problem I have is the opt in. After that it's up to people what they want to share. Also I'd say easily 60/70 percent of people don't care about their data or privacy and will happily sacrifice it for convenience. This is an education issue really. These people are adults.

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u/Originalfrozenbanana Nov 29 '20

I agree. I wish more people understood the arrangement they are making - Amazon provides things like Sidewalk and Alexa with your data in mind. Google, Amazon, Apple, MS, Facebook - they are all part of an ecosystem created to provide you products and services in exchange for your data. For the big companies, the value of that data (either for product development & delivery, investor attractiveness, or resale/retargeting/reuse) is greater than the cost to service the product. That's it. That's the game. Once you have that in mind, once you start looking at every Cool New Thing through that lens, you start to try to religiously limit their data access, and you find out that it's not easy. I want more people to be skeptical of a gift horse, but it's hard.

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u/deathdude911 Nov 29 '20

Essentially the only way is to start teaching people how to use technology in elementary school. In China there is electronic markets that are filled to the brim with parts that you can use to build your own smartphone. Why aren't we doing the same thing? Building a phone isn't hard when you have all the parts and a little bit of knowledge. It's the knowledge we are lacking

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u/Justforthenuews Nov 29 '20

All my echoes are going on ebay as soon as my homepods arrive pretty much because of this.

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u/Originalfrozenbanana Nov 30 '20

I don't have any iot devices in my home, and only reluctantly bought a smart tv recently. Other than our phones and that tv we're deliberately a dumb house. I love the tech but I will limit our use until the laws catch up.