[POLL] Smart Devices Concerns Vs Convenience

ameyas7 on 26/08/2018 - 23:57
Last edited 29/08/2018 - 12:56 by 1 other user

there have been numerous deals on smart devices lately including but not limited to smart lights, plugs, locks, home automation bundle etc. i have no doubt that it offers greater convenience over their previous counterparts. however, i wonder how many of those buying these devices are fully aware of the risks &/or concerns involved related to hacking, data mining by the manufacturer, potentially compromising user's privacy etc.

i'm sure there will be some pro users who knows exactly what they are getting into but i am more keen to find out general awareness on the ground when it comes to literacy level of such issues associated with these devices.

if you consider yourself as an expert in this space, i would also recommend you to write few lines about various concerns you are already aware and how you addressed them (or any links) in the interest of other users.

Mod 29/8 12:30AM: New poll option added by request "i'm aware of risks involved and hence i refrain from buying them as much possible.

Poll Options expired

  • 0
    i'm aware of risks involved and hence i refrain from buying them as much possible.
  • 2
    i have no idea about any risks involved in using such devices but i may not buy them either.
  • 2
    i wasn't aware of any concerns but i will review details carefully before buying them next time.
  • 5
    i'm aware but concerns like data mining doesn't bother me much and i will continue buying them.
  • 28
    i'm aware of risks involved but i prefer the convenience offered by them and will continue buying.
Electrical & Electronics

Comments

  • blitz on 27/08/2018 - 00:33
    +16

    Ummmm…why don't you have an option: "I'm aware of the risks and don't use them as a result"??

    • ShannonN on 27/08/2018 - 03:32

      Me too

    • ameyas7 on 27/08/2018 - 09:57

      Sorry i missed that initially. I tried to add that immediately within few minutes but somehow its not listed. Not quite sure if there is a limit on number of options or you can't edit list of options once people start voting. Happy to explore and include if its feasible.

    • ameyas7 on 28/08/2018 - 22:49

      checked with the moderators. unfortunately, we can't add options without resetting the count. im checking if we can reword any of the unused option to capture this. if its gonna mess up with current votes, ill probably leave it. but we can certainly consider + votes on your comments as implicit vote count for that option :-)

  • [Deactivated] on 27/08/2018 - 01:48
    +4

    I am still on the fence about making my home "smart", but I did discover a site today that can level up how smart your home really is. It's called If That Then This https://ifttt.com . You can do things like make your Phillips Hue lights change to a certain colour when your Uber arrives, or download every photo your kids are tagged in on Facebook to your dropbox and stuff.

    • HighAndDry on 27/08/2018 - 11:02

      Don't know why you're negged. It's a great tool for DIY people who like mixing and matching products and gateways from different companies so as not to be locked down with much better flexibility.

      • [Deactivated] on 27/08/2018 - 12:03

        I have a few "fans", I can't spend upvotes, so I don't really care if I accumulate them.

  • No on 27/08/2018 - 04:36

    If you really want to be cautious buy devices which work directly with something like home assistant then block the devices internet access from your router or use something called pihole.

    Pihole shows me that my broadlink devices phone home a lot, like once or twice a second. I don't think they are doing anything nefarious but I blocked them anyway. The Xiaomi devices don't seem to be phoning home excessively but I blocked them anyway then got rid of the Xiaomi gateway altogether and used zigbee2mqtt.

    If you know what your doing or are happy to follow guides there are pretty easy ways to make these things secure.

  • bobbified on 27/08/2018 - 08:40
    +2

    Assuming there's no bug microphones, what can anyone do with your lights, powerpoints and aircon system? Turn them on and off? I can't really see any big risk in it on the off chance that someone does hack your system.

    Having said that, there are certain things that I wouldn't connect to the internet - main door lock and cameras within the house (or have them on a separate, secure network).

    • EightImmortals on 27/08/2018 - 09:08

      A lot of people are concerned about the increasing EMF smog. It might not be an issue for you but there are plenty of people who have varying degrees of sensitivities to RF and EMR etc. and that number seems to be growing.

      • bobbified on 27/08/2018 - 09:25

        A lot of people are concerned about the increasing EMF smog

        OP's referring to the security risks rather than the health risks. So I haven't even thought about the health risks. In this day and age, unless you live in building lined with lead or a farm far out in the middle of nowhere, it's almost impossible to avoid EMF.

        • ameyas7 on 27/08/2018 - 10:17

          Sorry if my post was misleading but i did not limit my concerns to just security related. Most people tend to think that is the only or the primary concern. But i believe there's a lot of hidden cost for this convenience. I just wanted to get a feel on how many people are making conscious decisions when it comes to buying these products. EMF smog is not a major concern to most of us at this stage but if we keep adding to it im wondering if the next gen will be paying a heavy price for our actions. Thats more of a social cost associated to these devices. At an individual level also i believe we are paying lot of hidden cost. After using smart phones for just few years (or a decades) we have pretty much lost the ability to memorize lot of important things.
          Im not saying we should stop using them or avoid them completely but i am also wondering if people are making informed decisions or they are just looking at convenience factor at a much higher hidden cost.

        • HighAndDry on 27/08/2018 - 12:19
          +1

          @ameyas7:

          EMF smog is not a major concern to most of us at this stage but if we keep adding to it im wondering if the next gen will be paying a heavy price for our actions.

          "EMF smog" is boogeyman that has no relation to actual scientific facts.

      • Diji1 on 27/08/2018 - 10:30
        +1

        EMF sensitivity is 100% psychological meaning people only get it when they think it's there, not when it's there.

      • HighAndDry on 27/08/2018 - 12:21
        +1

        there are plenty of people who have varying degrees of sensitivities to RF and EMR etc

        No, there are plenty of people who think they have varying degrees of sensitivities to RF and EMR etc.

        There is no actual such thing. People aren't physiologically able to be affected by electromagnetic radiation used by cell phones, wifi-routers, etc. Otherwise things like MRI machines would be killing people. Hint: They're not killing people. (and they're thousands of times more powerful).

    • HighAndDry on 27/08/2018 - 11:03

      Honestly it's not what they can do, but what they can find out about you that is likely the biggest worry. For example, if someone can see your light/energy use habits, they can probably tell with 100% accuracy when you're on holidays. And that probably has a lot of use to higher end criminals, etc.

  • JimB on 27/08/2018 - 10:26
    +2

    Don't really care about smart lights, plugs, locks, home automation, but I wouldn't have a device such as Google Home that is constantly listening to your conversation.

    Then again, you could say that about my Android phone, but not keen on the Google Home type devices.

    • Diji1 on 27/08/2018 - 10:33
      +1

      Google would never do that, it's not as though they have a record of repeatedly violating people privacy while informing them that they are not, or that they hold patents for microphones always listening or anything.

      If they ever did violate your privacy it would 100% have to be accidental and it would be one "rogue engineeer" that did it.

      • JimB on 27/08/2018 - 10:39
        +1

        I believe that Google would never deliberately allow it, but things gets hacked all the time.

        • HighAndDry on 27/08/2018 - 11:04

          I think you got whooshed there by the implied sarcasm. Google was just busted for continuing to track users' locations (through their Android phones) even when location tracking was turned off by the user.

        • JimB on 27/08/2018 - 11:15

          @HighAndDry:

          Got me there… I'll admit it.. then again, I don't claim to know about Google Privacy practices, but I don't want to take a risk.

    • ameyas7 on 27/08/2018 - 10:47

      True. Few smart devices (tv, phones) have already become well integrated part of our lives and we seem to be adding more to the list. Recently, I came across a TED video which claimed that devices like echo pinged their manufacturer every few minutes regardless of we use them or not (not sure if it was with some specific version). It is the lack of transparency on data collection policy which concerns me a bit.
      Personally, i would love to see more and more smart devices / applications in public places but not so much in my home.

    • pernunz on 27/08/2018 - 11:41

      I think there are enough security conscious people online with such well known devices who monitor these sorts of things that you don't really have to worry.

      If my Google Home was continually uploading an audio feed it would be very noticeable in internet traffic. (Unless they got sneaky, and only uploaded it when you watched youtube or netflix, but the device itself doesn't have that much storage in it as identified in tech teardowns)

      It's a different story for less well known brands that don't have as much of a reputation to lose.

      • ameyas7 on 27/08/2018 - 19:49

        Well the thing is these devices have full blown computer under the hood. Technically, its quite easy to use various compression algorithms and send things back home with a very light footprint (audio files do not need noticable space these days). I believe most researchers can monitor the size of the payload and /or frequency but not the actual contents. So dont take things for granted especially when most people don't have the patience to read EULA terms and conditions. Remember these companies can not provide personalized experience without sharing information. Lot of things get sold under the label that our data can not be traced to an individual but its hard to validate those claims and without any regulations in this space, you are at the mercy of the manufacturer?

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join