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Zacks
Posted on Tuesday, November 24, 2020 - 12:24 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

Email today from Amazon regarding a new feature called Sidewalk being turned on later this year.
Anyone else seen this? Because my paranoia is pretty much to the point that I'm going to remove the Echo dots. Mostly used for intercoms here between 1st and 3rd floor home offices.
Highlights (mine):
- When enabled, Sidewalk uses a small portion of your Internet bandwidth to provide these services to you AND YOUR NEIGHBORS.
- Customers with a Sidewalk Bridge which is pooled together to create a shared network that benefits all Sidewalk-enabled devices in a community.
- For security and privacy concerns, you won't be allowed to see what devices are using your network.

My mind starts ping-ponging about how many ways this can be used for 'monitoring' and other nefarious purposes.
They're adding it to Ring doorbells, smart lights etc etc.
Of course, you can 'opt out' but anyone with any exposure to software development knows that's a joke. Change a color on the UI and keep on keeping on.}
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Ratbuell
Posted on Tuesday, November 24, 2020 - 01:10 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)



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Greg_e
Posted on Tuesday, November 24, 2020 - 02:20 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

Things like this are banned from my house!

But that doesn't limit the phones from listening too.
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Tootal
Posted on Tuesday, November 24, 2020 - 02:25 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

The phones listen big time. I was talking to my friend who's a history buff. We were sitting at a bar, (pre-covid), and he was telling me a story about some guy in WWll who was a hangman that hung the nazi's after the trials. We never googled anything, just talked about it. That night I went on YouTube and in the suggested video's was a video about the guy we were taking about. Right, they're not listening...
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Ratbuell
Posted on Tuesday, November 24, 2020 - 02:30 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

For when the phones are listening...just use the telemarketer response.

"Well...it's done, but there's blood everywhere".

Say that a few times in conversation, and see who visits you!
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Pwnzor
Posted on Tuesday, November 24, 2020 - 08:10 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

That Sidewalk garbage might be a good idea for a school... but in a community?

Hell no. Get your own damned interwebz, stay off mine.
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Ourdee
Posted on Tuesday, November 24, 2020 - 08:24 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

Exactly!
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Ourdee
Posted on Tuesday, November 24, 2020 - 08:26 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

- For security and privacy concerns, you won't be allowed to see what devices are using your network.

challenge accepted
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Hootowl
Posted on Tuesday, November 24, 2020 - 10:01 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

If the device creates it’s own network, and NATs all the traffic through itself, there will be no visibility. You lose all layer two information when the traffic crosses a router.
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Tpehak
Posted on Wednesday, November 25, 2020 - 09:18 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

It is dangerous to keep the gun near the printer. The printer can use the gun against you.
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Bandm
Posted on Wednesday, November 25, 2020 - 11:05 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

Xfinity routers are wifi hotspots open to anybody with a comcast account.
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Ratbuell
Posted on Wednesday, November 25, 2020 - 11:16 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

Incorrect. You cannot log in at my house without a password.
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Greg_e
Posted on Wednesday, November 25, 2020 - 11:26 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

I'm willing to bet that the bad actors are drooling over this "upgrade". Amazon needs to be paying massive bug bounties to even have half a chance of protecting the customer... But then again this has nothing to do with protecting the customer and somehow has to do with getting more money!
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Bandm
Posted on Wednesday, November 25, 2020 - 12:10 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

Two WiFi networks.
One for you. One for your guests.
Have an Xfinity Wireless Gateway? Then you're likely to have the home hotspot feature. Give guests WiFi access in your home without sharing your password or slowing down your network.

Here's how it works:
In addition to your secure in-home WiFi, many Wireless Gateways broadcast a second signal called "xfinitywifi." This is an extension of the Xfinity WiFi network that any Xfinity Internet subscriber can use

https://wifi.xfinity.com/

They log on to your router with their Xfinity username and password, not your network.

(Message edited by bandm on November 25, 2020)
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Ratbuell
Posted on Wednesday, November 25, 2020 - 12:19 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

Unless you configure it as a secondary network, and put a password on it.

My router has two networks on it; I put passwords on both during router setup. Same with my neighbors - I can "see" their xfinitywifi on my "available networks" screen, but it has the padlock on it just like their personal network.
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Bandm
Posted on Wednesday, November 25, 2020 - 01:03 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

So you know what I am talking about and disabled this default feature? You have to log on to networks named xfinitywifi using your username and password, I do it daily at multiple locations.
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Hootowl
Posted on Wednesday, November 25, 2020 - 02:23 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

The xfinity networks are not open (that's why they have a lock icon) but they are available to anyone with an xfinity account. There's no security issue present, it's a completely separate network presented on the WAN side of the router. I doubt it even uses your bandwidth allocation.
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Zacks
Posted on Wednesday, November 25, 2020 - 04:21 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

ah. but read again. They will not be logging onto your network.
Rather that your EXISTING devices are acting as a bridge. And you have no way of monitoring who is using that due to 'privacy concerns'.
Like Amazon (any phone company or ISP for that matter) reeeeaaallly worries about your privacy...

And oh yes, bad actors got to have boners about this.
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Hootowl
Posted on Wednesday, November 25, 2020 - 08:05 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

I read about it. They connect using bluetooth. You can turn it off. I wonder how the ISPs will react to folks sharing their services? Might be illegal.
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Reindog
Posted on Wednesday, November 25, 2020 - 10:29 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

Got some real bad news for y'all. If you possess a cell phone, Big Brother is already watching. I designed internet traffic chips in 2000 that can monitor all your shit. Add 20 years and no telling what the NSA can do with your traffic and "private" conversations. Additionally, Huawei "borrowed" some of our chips twenty years ago and we never got them back before our startup went bust in 2004.
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Zacks
Posted on Wednesday, November 25, 2020 - 11:14 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

I may actually start making that tinfoil hat:
https://appleinsider.com/articles/20/11/24/what-yo u-need-to-know-about-amazon-sidewalk

Hoot: Bluetooth OR 900Mhz bandwidth. And turn it off? Sure. Then why is it opt-out rather than opt-in? And only thru the Alexa app. Like everyone opens that up every day.
I guarantee that just like default router passwords, there's going to be a metric crap-ton of devices left as default.

Reindog: yeah, I know. <sigh> Doesn't mean I have to like it. or my company and family allow me to ditch the phone.
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Rick_a
Posted on Thursday, November 26, 2020 - 01:16 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

I wonder how people willingly invite devices like Amazon Alexa and Echo into their homes. Your personal information is already being exploited like never before.

I've defeated most such features on my phone...but they're definitely into my shopping and browsing preferences ...the same tech overlords trying to control what I see and read. Those dirty dogs.

The girlfriend...the way her phone brings up suggestions based on conversations near her phone is just creepy.
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Hootowl
Posted on Thursday, November 26, 2020 - 07:55 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

“And turn it off? Sure. Then why is it opt-out rather than opt-in?”

The article I found didn’t specify whether it would be automatically enabled, but I have no doubt it will be. Probably because they want people to use it.

“And only thru the Alexa app.”

Because the alexa app is the only way to manage an echo device. They have no ui other than volume and mic mute buttons.
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Pwnzor
Posted on Thursday, November 26, 2020 - 08:31 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

I recommend everybody get burner gear.

1. Purchase $X.XX worth of gift cards using cash while wearing a hat and your CCP Virus mask pulled up. Completely obscure your identity, no tattoos showing, plain clothing with no logos. Walk funny while doing this. Change your gait and stride length. All purchases in the next steps should be made with these gift cards, with identity obscured in the same way.

2. Purchase and assemble components to create a Faraday-shielded carrying case large enough to hold all the items necessary for every member of your bugout group.

3. Purchase phones and a laptop. Using the laptop and a VPN connection while in another state where you do not reside, activate the phones. Turn them off. Put them in the case along with the laptop. Never, ever call any "known" phone number with any of these phones. The only people you talk to must have phones that are set up exactly the same way. Never, ever turn these phones on while in a "known" location that your old phone tracked you on a regular basis, such as your work or home locations, wherever you regularly shop for food, or even while driving along a regular route.

This is the ultra-simplified version, but I think you get the drift. It's not all that hard to go dark, but you must be religious about ensuring that these new phones cannot be associated with you. If, for any reason you believe that ANY of the phones is compromised, you must destroy ALL of them and start again.

It's best to create at least three setups exactly like this, and keep at least two of them somewhere other than your home.

I recommend moving at least a 20 mile distance from any known locations before using any of these devices.

It is important to note that changing SIM cards is NOT going to shield your identity. The IMEI number which is embedded in the phone is what identifies that device on the network, and once that IMEI is associated with ANY IMEI, SIM, phone number, or email address that you have called or received a call or message from, that device is cooked and must be destroyed.

You can create three full setups for six people, including 18 phones, 18 dual band radios, 3 computers, water/emission-proof cases and a single solar panel rig sufficient to charge everything at once for under $2000, and this includes gift cards with enough remaining balance to keep the phones activated for a year.
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Zacks
Posted on Thursday, November 26, 2020 - 09:54 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

Hoot:
From that article I linked:
The downsides and implications of Amazon Sidewalk wouldn't be as pressing if it weren't enabled by default. The system is opt-out instead of opt-in.
And you're right re: Alexa app. I'm too used to dealing with connections via my router admin settings. Brain was on default mode there.
But, it's still a valid comment on whether the majority of folks will do anything with their devices.
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Hootowl
Posted on Thursday, November 26, 2020 - 10:35 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

I agree. It’s likely most folk won’t even realize it’s there.
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Hootowl
Posted on Thursday, November 26, 2020 - 10:36 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

I wouldn’t know about it if I hadn’t read this thread.
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Pwnzor
Posted on Thursday, November 26, 2020 - 11:10 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

Since I don't have, nor will I ever have any nested or voice control stuff in my house, I won't be worrying about the sidewalk.
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Ourdee
Posted on Thursday, November 26, 2020 - 01:06 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

My AT&T came with two separate wifis. Poligamis!
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