[url]https://phys.org/news/2018-05-amazon-alexa-conversation-consent.html[/url] [quote]An Amazon device powered by the Alexa voice software recorded a couple's private conversation in their home and sent it to someone in their contact list without their knowledge, KIRO television reported.

...

"A total privacy invasion," she went on. "Immediately I said, 'I'm never plugging that device in again, because I can't trust it.'"[/quote]Well she invited those things into her house. What did she expect to happen?


[quote]... and said Amazon takes privacy very seriously.[/quote]Yes, they do take privacy seriously. They seriously want to invade your privacy.

[QUOTE=retina;488540]Yes, they do take privacy seriously. They seriously want to invade your privacy.[/QUOTE]

Cleverer would have been, "They seriously want to take your privacy"

[QUOTE=axn;488542]Cleverer would have been, "They seriously want to take your privacy"[/QUOTE]:tu:

Yet one more thing that is over doing it:
[URL="https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/06/01/616043976/digital-license-plates-roll-out-in-california"]https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/06/01/616043976/digital-license-plates-roll-out-in-california[/URL]

[QUOTE=Uncwilly;488877]Yet one more thing that is over doing it:
[URL]https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/06/01/616043976/digital-license-plates-roll-out-in-california[/URL][/QUOTE]
And soaking the consumer

"They'll cost $699 for individual consumers, plus installation, as well as a monthly fee of about $7"
I heard of someone who was identified after a bad accident and ensuing fire by the metal license plate on the vehicle. Hard to do that after the digital-plate electronics are fried and plate battery exploded from the heat. But not to worry, they'll match the digitally tracked gps history endpoint to the location of the charred rusting hulk.

[QUOTE=kriesel;488895]And soaking the consumer

"They'll cost $699 for individual consumers, plus installation, as well as a monthly fee of about $7"[/QUOTE]They are only for those that want them.

Many of the features like geo-fencing, etc. have been available for heavy trucks and construction equipment (the construction version has remote and geo-fence kill capability.)
My understanding is that some states require an official plate on the rear (along with the yearly stickers), but the operator may display the plate number on the front using another device. [This would not apply to semi's as they need to have their plate with the current stickers up front.]

[url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/23/technology/smart-home-devices-domestic-abuse.html]Thermostats, Locks and Lights: Digital Tools of Domestic Abuse[/url] - NYTimes
[quote]SAN FRANCISCO — The people who called into the help hotlines and domestic violence shelters said they felt as if they were going crazy.

One woman had turned on her air-conditioner, but said it then switched off without her touching it. Another said the code numbers of the digital lock at her front door changed every day and she could not figure out why. Still another told an abuse help line that she kept hearing the doorbell ring, but no one was there.

Their stories are part of a new pattern of behavior in domestic abuse cases tied to the rise of smart home technology. Internet-connected locks, speakers, thermostats, lights and cameras that have been marketed as the newest conveniences are now also being used as a means for harassment, monitoring, revenge and control.
...
Some connected device makers said they had not received reports of their products being used in abuse situations. The gadgets can be disabled through reset buttons and changing a home’s Wi-Fi password, but [u]their makers said there was no catchall fix[/u].[/quote]
Of course there's a catchall fix - keeping this crap out of one's home and, taking things a step further, refusing to enter any home that has it. Those Echo, Nest, etc owners will quickly start rethinking whether the gadgets are really worth it if their friends start refusing to visit. Of course the policy elites, not just in countries like China but in 'liberal democracies' around the world are going to start slowly marching their citizens down the road to making such in-home spyware in some form the government spooks have access to mandatory, just as they are pushing hard for the mopes to embrac the convenience and crime-fighting potential of the [url=https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2018/02/cash-must-not-made-scapegoat.html]cashless society[/url]. We must be vigilant on that creeping-totalitarianism front, as well.

Your router is playing footsie with my phone AND my laptop!

[url=https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2018/08/just-say-no-wi-fi-enabled-appliance-botnet-could-bring-power-grid-to-its-knees/]Just say no: Wi-Fi-enabled appliance botnet could bring power grid to its knees[/url] | Ars Technica

Software as a service
 

Software as a service ... nothing could ever go wrong with that. Right? Those big companies will always be around, forever, without a single second of downtime, ever. Or at least not down for more than a few minutes. Right?

[url]https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/09/24/zoho_domain_snafu/[/url] :ermm:

The other day I bought some smart plugs from a very large common store. Set them up using the iPhone app which entailed inputting my wifi password.
The very next day my wifi was hacked via MITM Attack.
I doubt it very much that it is a coincidence.
The problem is changing the WiFi password will still require inputting the new password to the app if I want to keep using the plugs.