Amazon Devices to Begin Automatically Sharing Internet Bandwidth as Part of Mesh Network Experiment

[Tsing]

Image: Amazon



Amazon Sidewalk is a new wireless mesh service that aims to boost the speed and connectivity of the retail giant’s Echo devices, Ring security cams, outdoor lights, motion sensors, and Tile trackers by having them share a small portion of their internet bandwidth and pooling them together to enable a stronger network. While many seem to believe that this is a bad idea in terms of security and personal privacy, Amazon intends to accelerate Sidewalk by automatically enrolling its devices into its mesh experiment beginning on June 8. Security-minded owners are being encouraged to opt out, but they only have 10 days to do it...

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[Brian_B]

It’s a noble idea - but there is no way I want people and devices on my network that I don’t know, can’t control, and don’t trust.

 

[Zarathustra]

This is just plain evil.

Anything like this should always be opt in, not opt out. I don't care if that makes adoption rates suffer. It is the only right thing to do.

"Hey, you shop at Krogers, so now Krogers is just going to share your couch with random strangers and let them watch your TV. What you didn't see the fine print on your Krogers receipt? You had the option to opt out!"

It is absolutely insane.

I hope at the very least they set them up to worn with some form of encrypted tunnel until well outside your network...

I'm glad I don't have any smart devices like this in my home! The only exception are a few early Nest Thermostats I bought when they were new, before I realized what these guys would try to do long term. I'm keeping an eye on them though, and I ahve them VLAN:ed off on a separate network from everything else.

 

[Grimlakin]

Amanda it's disabled. I don't want that **** happening on my network. Especially since I can't identify who is using it and why.

 

[Zarathustra]

Someone over on the H made a very astute comment regarding all of this which I had not thought of.

You know all of those smart TV's and other smart devices you reluctantly bought, because you can at least not give them your WiFi password, so they can't dial home?

Well, now - unless you live in the middle of the forest - you are surrounded by an open mesh network courtesy of Amazon and your neighbors, and they can dial home whenever they want.

Time to put Faraday cages in the walls?

This is really getting out of hand.

 

[Brian_B]

Well, now - unless you live in the middle of the forest - you are surrounded by an open mesh network courtesy of Amazon and your neighbors, and they can dial home whenever they want.

I guess they could always really do this via Zigbee or Thread or any other mesh protocol, really. There has always been the tradeoff of security for convenience. Everyone lands in a little bit different spot on that spectrum.

 

[Denpepe]

One of the big internet providers over here already does something similar, they do use a completely different channels/bandwith then your home network and you can opt out of it..

 

[Zarathustra]

I guess they could always really do this via Zigbee or Thread or any other mesh protocol, really. There has always been the tradeoff of security for convenience. Everyone lands in a little bit different spot on that spectrum.

I'm all for people being able to make their own choices regarding the balance between privacy and convenience. Where I chafe is when they are made opt-out so that people may not even know that they are enrolling in something, or where people don't even have a choice like being surrounded by open networks and having devices be able to freely communicate with them circumventing your choices.

These things have to end.

 

[Brian_B]

I wonder if Comcast still offers public WiFi on their consumer routers by default? They did for the longest time, and claimed it didn’t count against the consumer data allowance or affect their speeds…

Apparently so, this read is hilarious

How To Turn Xfinity WiFi Home Hotspot On or Off

Learn how to turn your Home Hotspot on or off.

www.xfinity.com

 

[Zarathustra]

I wonder if Comcast still offers public WiFi on their consumer routers by default? They did for the longest time, and claimed it didn’t count against the consumer data allowance or affect their speeds…

Apparently so, this read is hilarious

How To Turn Xfinity WiFi Home Hotspot On or Off

Learn how to turn your Home Hotspot on or off.

www.xfinity.com

This is why I never use any ISP provided hardware. I don't want it in my house for any reason at all. This way there will never be any surprises.

 

[AntiQuark]

This is (partly) why there will never be any Amazon devices in my house.

 

[Dogsofjune]

I just looked at the opt out. It's not available to me yet.
I'm not for this experiment

 

[MadMummy76]

One of the big internet providers over here already does something similar, they do use a completely different channels/bandwith then your home network and you can opt out of it..

They do it here too, but it's strictly opt in. If you opt-in you can use the wifi hotspots of others who opted in. But I need no such thing with unlimited mobile data

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

Opt out should never be legal IMO. You should be opted out by default and have to choose to join. To me, it's no different than a provider changing your plan/service without your permission. They are signing you up for a service without your knowledge. I'm sure they have legal ways around it.. and as always, it's easier to apologize than to ask for permission. Remember the Ring and police department fiasco...

 

[Grimlakin]

Yea this is going to be awesome right until criminals realize it's a thing. Pull up to your house. Jump on the open share. Look at your security cameras. See everyone is asleep. Unlock your door turn off your cameras and rob you blind all the while watching to see if you wake up. No ****ing thank you. Especially when you can't even secure it. Tje security ramifications of this alone will have security organizations have people remove these devices from their homes.

 

[Burticus]

Yea this is going to be awesome right until criminals realize it's a thing. Pull up to your house. Jump on the open share. Look at your security cameras. See everyone is asleep. Unlock your door turn off your cameras and rob you blind all the while watching to see if you wake up. No ****ing thank you. Especially when you can't even secure it. Tje security ramifications of this alone will have security organizations have people remove these devices from their homes.

I doubt most local criminals doing break-ins have a netrunner on their team to breach our defenses, LOL.

 

[Brian_B]

I doubt most local criminals doing break-ins have a netrunner on their team to breach our defenses, LOL.

What I would be more worried about would be the perv in the van parked on the street corner pulling down kiddie snuff films so the bandwidth gets traced back to "any poor sucker except him"

Doesn't take much to wardrive for weak wireless connections for ... other-than-legal purposes. Not saying your personal system needs to be rock-solid iron-clad: just like running from a bear - you don't have the be the fastest running away, just not the slowest.

 

[Grimlakin]

I doubt most local criminals doing break-ins have a netrunner on their team to breach our defenses, LOL.

Ok maybe I play too much shadowrun. Just saying an unsecured sub network that runs on your network... with all the security that an Alexa gives it... no thank you. I don't run any black ice.. but I do run white ice. (aiprotect.)