The spies in your home: How WiFi companies monitor your private life
proton.me
proton.me
For years I've wanted a robot vacuum cleaner with home mapping (to optimize routes, limit sections even by day, etc.), but they all ask you to connect to the Internet in order to use them... It is madness.
Map of your house, habits/presence and so on, I don't want to give any ideas. So I prefer a manual vacuum cleaner as one finish faster and better, at time one do a bit of exercise also.
The only way I could think on buying one of such things is to be able to use all such mapping functions without the device being connected to the internet, and also that nothing could be connected to the device remotely if I don't give permission at that moment (Even to program it I'd prefer to connect it via USB to whatever, with the requirement that the app working as UI cannot connect to the internet, of course).
I don't like this trend of recent years with devices on general. Looks like "smart" is an euphemism for "spy", spy-tv, spy-phone, spy-home, and so on. The key here is, internet connected.
> Plume is doing real-time analysis of extremely low-level RF data pulled from the Superpods' radios. This is real motion detection, with no gimmicks involved.. Consumers who are already paranoid about mesh telemetry really aren't going to love the addition of motion detection.
RF/radar human detection is present in Intel Meteor Lake and likely to appear in upcoming "AI" PCs.
The companies can offer cheaper hardware and software, because they (and their business and government clients) spy on you.
TLDR: end-users are not the only customers.
But they do want politicians to outlaw such practices, which indicates they aren't happy and satisfied with the status quo.
One is sensing where people are in the home. Could be used to turn on lights, but that isn’t worth with LEDs. I would love to know where my cats are without searching the house,
Another is sensing gestures. Instead of talking to home assistant, you can make rude gestures. This would primarily be useful for the deaf.
For computers, might be good enough for tracking head position. Or track hand position for pointing at screen. Niches uses but useful if can use builtin WiFi than special sensor.
Switching to a wired ethnernet only router might be the way to go. But there is still other concerns such as the Intel and AMD management engines.
In older devices, an M.2 Wi-Fi radio can be physically removed.
Also, the implementation on the SoC is only part of the WiFi stack, it still needs an additional RF chip.
BT/WiFi split between SoC and PCIe device will be fun for IOMMU passthrough.
BTW, how are you going to avoid installing the ONT from your ISP?
Also its possible from my understanding to use your own OST. At the very least you could just put it in a makeshift faraday cage.
> You probably don't live in the forest. You have neighbours
Lot of people in the United States live in very rural areas with their nearest neighbor being 5-10 miles away.
The cheapest places to buy are also in rural areas. With the popularity of work from home rising, its not crazy to think a large amount of people will start living in secluded places.
Anyway, packing like a sardine in a city is gross and for gross people. If you can't be happy alone in nature, don't deserve to be happy. Urbanites are the lowest species of human, with the highest crime rate and most drug use and homelessness. They are all depressed, neurotic freaks because they live in an environment where you xan't even see the stars in the night sky where there is constant noises every second of the day. No wonder these people all need anti depressants and anti anxiety medication.
shielding
jamming
regulation
publicityJamming is probably indeed an option. Illegal, but detecting the source and blaming you could be difficult. There is no technical countermeasure against jamming aside from using a different frequency, which would break any form of wifi.
However, I do not want to have to support, flash or manually patch my home Wi-Fi, which currently consists of no less than 5 Airport Extreme base stations connected via Cat 5. But I also don't want it to send data to the cloud or rely on proprietary apps for management (I tolerate Apple's Airport Utlity because it has worked flawlessly for decades).
I'm running a dual-stack network (IPv4/v6) using DHCPv6 for deterministic IPv6 addresses on hosts, all that is handled by the virtual router running in a container on Proxmox on the server-under-the-stairs. This is also where I run Wireguard (VPN) and adblock.
Maximum wireless speed varies depending on which AP you're connected to, in practice up to about 550 Mbps when using the Xiaomi 4A APs (advertised as AC1200). Range is sufficient for me to have a WiFi connection when I'm in the middle of a 3.5 hectare field on the opposite side of the road, about 150 m and a number of walls plus some trees separated from the nearest AP.
The Apple routers and access points did zero traffic inspection (other than IGMP) and had absolutely no tracking features. Please do not bring biased, toxic reasoning into the conversation.
No shortage of paranoid comments here
As for data collection, iOS is only marginally better than Android, and Apple exempts itself from the IDFA controls it imposes on 3rd-party apps.
Apple has positioned itself as a company that prioritizes user privacy. Over the years, Apple has implemented numerous privacy features, such as App Tracking Transparency (ATT), which requires apps to obtain user permission before tracking their activity across other apps and websites. Apple's privacy policies are often stricter than those of other tech companies, reflecting their commitment to protecting user data.
The claim that Apple exempts itself from tracking restrictions is misleading. While Apple does have access to certain data from its own ecosystem, such as app usage and iCloud data, it does not sell this data to third parties or use it for targeted advertising in the same way that companies like Google do. Apple's advertising business is limited to its own App Store, News, and Stocks apps, and the data used for ad targeting within these apps is based on user interactions within Apple’s ecosystem, with strict limits on data sharing.
Apple provides users with clear choices and transparency about how their data is used. With features like App Tracking Transparency, Privacy Labels, and the ability to limit ad tracking, Apple gives users more control over their data than most other tech companies. Users can choose to opt-out of personalized ads and tracking, which is a level of control not universally offered by other major tech firms.
Apple’s privacy practices are subject to regulatory oversight in various jurisdictions. Any attempt to exempt itself from its own privacy rules would likely face legal challenges and public scrutiny, further deterring Apple from engaging in practices that would undermine user trust.
And this is where this fantasy story went too far. Just a simple search of "Apple dark patterns" will yield years of tricking people into giving away massive amounts of data that they wouldn't if they really knew how the controls worked.
I'll also leave this at: you have no clue how Apple uses your data. To say otherwise is a flat out lie. SaaS is not a panacea because it's Apple and they market "privacy" and/or "security".
The assertion that “you have no clue how Apple uses your data” oversimplifies the situation. While it’s true that understanding the full scope of data use by any large tech company can be difficult, Apple’s privacy policies and terms of service are publicly available and outline their data practices. Apple’s approach to privacy is built around minimizing data collection where possible, using on-device processing, and keeping data anonymous where feasible. For example, Apple’s advertising platform does not follow users across the web; it uses on-device data and does not share data with third parties.
Software as a Service (SaaS) is a broad category, and it’s true that not all SaaS models are created equal in terms of privacy. However, Apple’s version of SaaS is integrated within an ecosystem that they tightly control, which reduces the reliance on third-party data brokers and limits the potential for data abuse. While it’s always wise to be cautious about data privacy, Apple’s track record—despite some valid criticisms—shows a commitment to privacy that sets it apart from companies whose core business is data monetization.
I think it’s snarky accounts like yours that ruin it, frankly. What’s wrong with nerds like you?
You clearly copied your response (twice) as it has no personal intonation as do your defensive posts. I guess you'd rather write out the defense of your copy and paste?
I ran your (clearly AI generated comments) through a number of checkers and either you write exactly as AI does very often, or... Yeah. Enjoy the facade!
I really have no idea what you are talking about.
- Your IP address is visible to your network provider and to the first relay, which is operated by Apple. Your DNS records are encrypted, so neither party can see the address of the website you’re trying to visit.
- The second relay, which is operated by a third-party content provider, generates a temporary IP address, decrypts the name of the website you requested, and connects you to the site.