Amazon Sidewalk

[MRockwell]

Found this on another forum:

Amazon Sidewalk: If you have Amazon devices, how to opt out - 9to5Mac

If you own any one of a number of Amazon devices, you have just over a week to opt out of a feature the company calls Amazon Sidewalk ...

9to5mac.com

I've seen that some INGO'ers have Ring, etc. didn't know if anyone was aware of this.
I personally don't have any Amazon tech, and after reading this I'm pretty certain I will try to avoid it in the future.

 

[larcat]

**** Bezos.

 

[WebSnyper]

Simple enough to disable. I noticed it was an option and opted out when setting up devices initially as it just sounded like a bad idea.

Need to be careful with any IOT type of device. They aren't known for being the most secure by default.

 

[wcd]

Simple enough to disable. I noticed it was an option and opted out when setting up devices initially as it just sounded like a bad idea.

Need to be careful with any IOT type of device. They aren't known for being the most secure by default.

IOT device?

 

[WebSnyper]

IOT device?

Internet of Things

Generally connected cameras, sensors, digital assistants, lights, etc.

 

[wcd]

Internet of Things

Generally connected cameras, sensors, digital assistants, lights, etc.

Thanks I am a little slow today lol

 

[Snapdragon]

Trying it now, and the Alexa app crashes every time I try to open settings. Coincidence? You tell me.

 

[WebSnyper]

Trying it now, and the Alexa app crashes every time I try to open settings. Coincidence? You tell me.

Just opened it and confirmed I was still currently disabled.

Is the app updated? Might uninstall and reinstall it and see if it continues to crash.

 

[Snapdragon]

I finally got to settings and disabled sidewalk. I just installed the app on my phone in the last week or two, so it's probably current. I hardly ever use it on my phone. I do most everything from my PC. I only it installed on my phone to ask Alexa the weather, so I could really uninstall it now.

 

[Ark]

Remember, Ring is available live and warrantless for police use through Amazon's partnerships with departments. If you own one, you bought a police surveillance camera and willingly installed it so they can watch you.

 

[churchmouse]

Remember, Ring is available live and warrantless for police use through Amazon's partnerships with departments. If you own one, you bought a police surveillance camera and willingly installed it so they can watch you.

Which is just another reason why none of the is in or around our home. We monitor through a set of hard wired cameras and an 80 hour recording device. We removed the internet tie in unless we need updates or info.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Remember, Ring is available live and warrantless for police use through Amazon's partnerships with departments. If you own one, you bought a police surveillance camera and willingly installed it so they can watch you.

Not exactly. At least for me they can watch what is triggered by my motion capture in a space that is available for anyone on my street to see. And in my case, unless somebody steps onto my porch, they arent seeing ANYTHING.

As to the smart speakers, just remember that anything that can respond to you by name, by nature MUST listen to everything so it can catch you addressing it by name so it can respond. So on my iphone I have "hey siri" disabled, but I can still call her up by holding the home button when I want to get that nosey b***'s attention.

And I'll continue to do my best to buy non IOT, "dumb" TVs as long as I can. Hell, I even choose my Roku models based on whether I can speak into the remote to make it do things.

But alas, I fear that even by disabling these devices, they are really still listening in at least sometimes; the odds that search suggestions "coincidentally" appear shortly after having conversations about a topic is just too coincidental. Hell, several years ago the wife and I were discussing something COMPLETELY outside of anything I have ever looked for online. No google searches, nothing. She brought it up, I shot it down and that was the end of it. The next day I'm seeing FB ads for it. dafu....?

 

[churchmouse]

Not exactly. At least for me they can watch what is triggered by my motion capture in a space that is available for anyone on my street to see. And in my case, unless somebody steps onto my porch, they arent seeing ANYTHING.

As to the smart speakers, just remember that anything that can respond to you by name, by nature MUST listen to everything so it can catch you addressing it by name so it can respond. So on my iphone I have "hey siri" disabled, but I can still call her up by holding the home button when I want to get that nosey b***'s attention.

And I'll continue to do my best to buy non IOT, "dumb" TVs as long as I can. Hell, I even choose my Roku models based on whether I can speak into the remote to make it do things.

But alas, I fear that even by disabling these devices, they are really still listening in at least sometimes; the odds that search suggestions "coincidentally" appear shortly after having conversations about a topic is just too coincidental. Hell, several years ago the wife and I were discussing something COMPLETELY outside of anything I have ever looked for online. No google searches, nothing. She brought it up, I shot it down and that was the end of it. The next day I'm seeing FB ads for it. dafu....?

SIL turned me onto this big brother insanity. Seriously, we are all on the internet umbilical 24/7/365.

 

[d.kaufman]

SIL turned me onto this big brother insanity. Seriously, we are all on the internet umbilical 24/7/365.

Big bro may not be watching in real time, but he definitely can find what you've said or done if need be

 

[churchmouse]

Big bro may not be watching in real time, but he definitely can find what you've said or done if need be

If you do not believe the phone is a dead link to the all hearing ears you are not reading the posts. Key words. I was doing the experiment with the SIL and we laid our phones on the bench and started discussing generators. We never googled them just had a semi-in-depth discussion on what we might want to buy. That night we both had adds related to generators on out FB pages. WTAF peoples.

 

[d.kaufman]

If you do not believe the phone is a dead link to the all hearing ears you are not reading the posts. Key words. I was doing the experiment with the SIL and we laid our phones on the bench and started discussing generators. We never googled them just had a semi-in-depth discussion on what we might want to buy. That night we both had adds related to generators on out FB pages. WTAF peoples.

Yup. Get that all the time. Mention steak, and get an ad for Omaha steaks. Mention socks and get Hanes ads.

By real time listening I meant the .gov alphabet agencies. They'll monitor in real time when need be, but it's all archived for future needs.

 

[Cameramonkey]

If you do not believe the phone is a dead link to the all hearing ears you are not reading the posts. Key words. I was doing the experiment with the SIL and we laid our phones on the bench and started discussing generators. We never googled them just had a semi-in-depth discussion on what we might want to buy. That night we both had adds related to generators on out FB pages. WTAF peoples.

Ayep! And in my case it was something super duper bizarre. Like she saw a weird billboard on her drive home, lets say for the discussion it was about suing because you were harmed in a jello wrestling accident. Not something we had ever discussed in the past nor related to our web histories. She thought the billboard was obnoxious which is why she brought it up. Next thing we know, we are seeing ads for Jello wrestling jobs. There simply wasnt any "six degrees" to explain the coincidence.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Next thing we know, we are seeing ads for Jello wrestling jobs.

Where are these jobs? I mean, I'm in no shape for Jello wrestling, but maybe they are looking for referees too?

 

[radar8756]

Where are these jobs? I mean, I'm in no shape for Jello wrestling, but maybe they are looking for referees too?

Jello wrestling games

 

[gregkl]

Same here. I was in a shoe store with my wife and I made the comment:" wow, skechers has some cool looking shoes." I have never owned them, never shopped for them, always thought of them as a shoe for the geriatric crowd.

Lo and behold, a while later a Skecher's ad pops up on my FB feed. That was confirmation to me that the phones are always listening. I wouldn't have believed you had that not happened to me.

BTW, my Sidewalk was already disabled when I checked. Is that the default or did I turn it off when it came out and forgot?