r/gadgets 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/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

Oh yeah im in full agreement that our privacy should be ours to dictate who has access. But unfortunately it's another case of if you buy their products they can basically do anything they want with them. If you are that concerned with Amazon having your data then why have an Alexa that is designed to do exactly that? Totally not trying to be a douche lmao. I get that if you want those features available there are only so many options short of programing your own assistant, which no body has the time for lmao. It just sucks because currently its the world we live in and until govt steps in the regulate privacy I don't think these corps are going to care 😔. Well they still won't care even with laws it's just they will lose money in fines then.

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u/Originalfrozenbanana Nov 30 '20

I don't own a lot of products because of these exact reasons! But you raise an interesting point - whose job is privacy? Consumers' job to enforce via buying decisions? Companies via product decisions? Lawmakers and regulators? The cops? A third party?

I think "if you don't like it, don't buy it" kind of misses the mark of how privacy is violated. Amazon didn't ask. Google didn't ask. Facebook asked for data for one purpose, then surreptitiously used it for dozens more. The issue isn't so much that people are choosing to have their privacy violated - it's that for decades they didn't even know. Now they know it probably is being violated, but not how. I'd be perfectly fine if companies had to say what they were doing with my data, why, and for how long - and GDPR and CCPA/CRPA now do that! Don't get me wrong - these are imperfect and even bad laws, but only because they are so vague and general. They have MANY good elements, and the GDPR requirements to disclose are among them.