Aral BalkanJan 9, 2023

Today, you can choose not to drive a Tesla if you don’t want Elon Musk, Inc. knowing everywhere you go.

Tomorrow, you might have to limit where you live because you won’t live in a Google Home and reconsider having 20/20 vision again in exchange for the artificial lens company seeing everything you see.

Privacy is not something you can “vote with your wallet” on. We either protect it as a human right or we lose it altogether.

#privacy #humanRights #BigTech #peopleFarming #capitalism

Show threadLoy
@aral It's such a fricking shame: I'd marvel at a AI home assistant type thing, ie. what Google Home and Amazon Echo claim to be. But I won't use them because they won't really work for me but for those companies.
Jan 9, 2023 at 8:49amWeb
Show threadAral BalkanJan 9, 2023

@loy Exactly. The question to ask whenever someone pitches you a “smart” thing is: “Who’s getting smarter about whom?”

If it’s you (and just you) getting smarter about yourself, that’s perfectly fine.

If it’s some corporation getting smarter about you, then “smart” is just a euphemism for “surveilled.”

#smart #tech #privacy #surveillance #capitalism #BigTech #peopleFarming #SiliconValley

Show threadLoyJan 9, 2023
@aral Most of the time "smart' means "connected" And most of the times "connected" means surveillance. A 'smart light' would know when to turn on and off, eg. to turn on when I walk in, but not turn on when I bring in a sleeping baby that'll wake up when bombarded by bright lights. But no, at best they'll know to show diaper ads I'd imagine.
Show threadWouter FrankenJan 9, 2023
@loy @aral Exactly, there is also technically no reason why these devices all should be connected themselves to some server of the manufacturer. IOT would be so much more simple if everything just worked locally and connected via standard protocols to a local piece of hardware that makes the connection to the cloud. But no, that is too easy, too privacy friendly and does not yield enough profit.
Show threadhalikularJan 9, 2023
@wouterfranken @loy @aral that’s exactly how it works with zigbee and zwave, and you can even run your own server to manage them with with something like a raspberry pi.
Show threadWouter FrankenJan 9, 2023
@halikular @loy @aral I am doing that already 😉. It is just annoying that the majority of manufacturers have set it as their strategy to make sure people cannot use their products locally, only via their cloud servers.
Show threadLoyJan 9, 2023
@wouterfranken @halikular @aral yep, I'm looking to set up #home-assistant. Their integrations page has a few categories for smart devices, from cloud polling to local push. I'm going to select and buy stuff depending on those categories.
Show threadJamesTDGJan 10, 2023
@wouterfranken @halikular @loy @aral indeed, God forbid Comcast shuts down my internet while I'm trying to turn off my bedroom light
Show threadBraxJan 9, 2023
@loy @aral There are a lot of Chinese cheap (less than $20) IP cameras and none of them work without the vendor's own cloud service, so...
Show threadmike805Jan 10, 2023
@braxuss @loy @aral https://theuncloud.co/ click on Watch and use any spare phone or chromebook as a cloud security camera.
UnCloud

Show threadBraxJan 10, 2023
@mike805 @loy @aral It seems it uses Cloud Firestore as cloud. That's a cloud.
Show threadBraxJan 10, 2023
@mike805 @loy @aral I see you are the developer. :) I think cameras should alow you to install your own server. Images of your home streamed 24/7 are something really sensitive. I'm sure your app is really useful in other situations.
Show threadmike805Jan 10, 2023

@braxuss @loy @aral @braxuss @loy @aral Uncloud Watch is just a javascript client application and a nodejs server process. The server handles the webrtc handshake and then gets out of the way.

You can download the server under "Documentation and Code" and run your own. A 1GB R-pi works fine, that is what I used to develop it.

You can view stuff at home using webrtc with no external dependencies.

Show threadBraxJan 10, 2023
@mike805 @loy @aral Cool :)
Show threadmike805Jan 10, 2023

@braxuss @loy @aral Uncloud Watch is just a javascript client application and a nodejs server process. The server handles the webrtc handshake and then gets out of the way.

You can download the server under "Documentation and Code" and run your own. A 1GB R-pi works fine, that is what I used to develop it.

It does not use firestore but it does use mysql for the optional camera list feature.

Show threadMy camera shoots fascistsJan 9, 2023

@loy @aral

The original smart home concept was that you would own all your data and it would all stay local. The only way this is going to change is by strict, enforced regulation that flat out prohibits this kind of data collection. Or at minimum, allows an easy user opt out that does not compromise service or price at all. That's what we need to push for.

Show threadAral BalkanJan 9, 2023

@Mikal Indeed :) https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109658436908460425

@loy

Aral Balkan (@[email protected])

@[email protected] Exactly. The question to ask whenever someone pitches you a “smart” thing is: “Who’s getting smarter about whom?” If it’s you (and just you) getting smarter about yourself, that’s perfectly fine. If it’s some corporation getting smarter about you, then “smart” is just a euphemism for “surveilled.” #smart #tech #privacy #surveillance #capitalism #BigTech #peopleFarming #SiliconValley

Aral’s Mastodon
Show threadDec [{()}]Jan 9, 2023
@Mikal @loy @aral
Original as in X10 (1975), or earlier than that?
Show threaddoctorambientJan 9, 2023

@loy @aral

Science fiction tricked us by showing us robots whose artificial brains lived inside of their artificial heads; bounded intelligences in iron.

We imagined that if they were "in" our homes, living as part of our families, that this meant that they worked for "us." Loyal robotic valets like Jeeves. Faithful employees of a sort.

We did not see the complete loss of the inside/outside boundary coming, nor what it implied about the corporate invasion of our private spaces.

Show threadJamesTDGJan 10, 2023
@loy @aral indeed, like they have yet to fix the issue of them randomly getting triggered