XPost: alt.comp.os.windows-11, alt.comp.os.windows-10   
   From: marianjones@helpfulpeople.com   
      
   Winston wrote:   
   > It'll be interesting to see if/how that means Amazon Sidewalk design   
   > and devices constitute widespread unauthorized access.   
   >   
   > Sidewalk devices use Ring doorbell and Amazon Echo devices as routers   
   > and are allowed to use up to 500MB worth of data from each such router.   
   > The owners of these devices are not allowed to see who their devices   
   > connect to (either direction).  Furthermore, Sidewalk device connections   
   > are enabled and allowed by default ("opt out", not "opt in"), so this   
   > will, in many cases, happen without the Ring/Echo owner's knowledge,   
   > understanding, or explicit consent.   
      
   Hi Winston,   
   I was unaware of this. I'm on Amazon Vine so I get all sorts of cameras for   
   free but I noticed all of the cameras on Vine went to the Internet instead   
   of ONLY to your router or only to the sd card on the camera itself.   
      
   While I'm using them, I put them in places that don't show me personally   
   (e.g., I put them in the driveway instead of pointing at the house), but it   
   always dismayed me that the signal for these inexpensive cameras went to   
   the Internet BEFORE it went back to your router and then to your phone.   
      
   But I was completely unaware that "some" of these brands allow others to   
   share up to 500 MB/month of its internet connection with nearby   
   Sidewalk-enabled devices.   
      
   Looking it up, you're 100% correct. Sidewalk is enabled by default on   
   compatible devices. Owners must manually opt out in settings. Worse, device   
   owners cannot see which devices are connecting through their Sidewalk   
   bridge, nor the traffic details.   
      
   With Sidewalk, Amazon has pre-authorized this access by design, and the   
   device owner agreed to Amazon's terms of service when setting up the   
   device.   
      
   The catch is many users may not realize they consented, since it's opt-out.   
      
   I think the situation is similar to the Wi-Fi router access point unique   
   BSSID & GPS location of your home uploading which is also opt out.   
      
   People can't opt out until/unless they know that they can opt out.   
      
   Luckily, for Wi-Fi access points, opting out is as easy as not broadcasting   
   your SSID (which prevents casual upload to the public datbases) or adding   
   "_nomap" to the end of the SSID (which doesn't prevent upload but   
   well-behaved database owners "say" they'll scrub those from the database).   
      
   I'm still unsure of the status of the Microsoft _optout_ mechanism though.   
       
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)