We really are being spied on!!!

[SylvainG]

Why? Do you have something to hide? I don't intend to run from the law so why should I care if my purchase transactions are recorded.

Was watching something on personal digital security. If you have a phone and credit/debit cards you really can't hide. Virtually impossible. If they can't find you via GPS, they can find you through triangulation, and then where you used your cards. Good reason to KEEP a CASH SYSTEM.

 

[gsganzer]

It has occurred to me that a cyberattack on not just Alexa etc but even including the dumb 'Smart Plugs' that only control outlets or lights, could bring the country to its knees. This is because you have to give the vendor access into your router for the device to be reachable from your phone.

Your phone command doesn't go straight from phone to device, it goes to the vendor's website then comes back down to the device. Get a bad actor into that website, possibly located overseas, and the result could be a nationwide mess. Garage doors opened or front doors unlocked, lights turned off everywhere, think frightening music coming out of baby monitors. Chaos. There's a price, and a risk, for so much connectedness.

In addition to unwanted commands sent to your devices, the access into your router that the vendor needs to make all this work, may make your pc etc hackable too. We're living in a whole new world.

I think we'd be foolish to think China, Russia or another actor wasn't already deeply imbedded in our entire infrastructure. I have the feeling the latest Solar Winds cyber attack is just a tip of the iceberg. I suspect there's many other malicious programs lying in wait, to be activated by some simple lines of code when needed.

 

[the old grind]

'They' have to want to find you. And once they do, all traces of you will disappear and you wouldn't be able to warn your fellow TBN members.

Guess I have more to worry about than my shadow. Sure glad I'm taking that course in Russian. Just think how much foreign interference is making our lives miserable. Serves us right for being targets.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Just let's say, they happen to change a law that suddenly makes you a criminal? Not that "THEY" would ever do something like that.

YOU could even suddenly be labelled and sought as a DOMESTIC TERRORIST"

 

[bironacad]

Watch the show on Netflix called the social dilemma. That’s quite a wake up

 

[the old grind]

Let's say an airplane crashes into your house while you're asleep. We're not safe anywhere.

I'm not paranoid, their out to get me, if the guy with the hockey mask doesn't find me first. Luckily I have an attic to hide in when it gets dark.

IT, if it's any help I excuse you for living, but we could stop doing all that illegal stuff.

 

[SylvainG]

The latest plugs and switches I bought were

TOPGREENER Smart Mini Wi-Fi Plug with Energy Monitoring, Mini Smart Outlet, Control Lights and Appliances from Anywhere, No Hub Required, Works with Alexa and Google Assistant, TGWF115PQM, 2-Pack : Amazon.ca: Baby

TOPGREENER Smart Mini Wi-Fi Plug with Energy Monitoring, Mini Smart Outlet, Control Lights and Appliances from Anywhere, No Hub Required, Works with Alexa and Google Assistant, TGWF115PQM, 2-Pack : Amazon.ca: Baby

www.amazon.ca

and

Smart Dimmer Switch, Treatlife 2.4 GHz WiFi Smart Light Switch for Dimmable LED/Halogen/Incandescent Bulbs, Works with Alexa and Google Home, Neutral Wire Required, Remote Control Timer Countdown, Single-Pole: Amazon.ca: Industrial & Scientific

Smart Dimmer Switch, Treatlife 2.4 GHz WiFi Smart Light Switch for Dimmable LED/Halogen/Incandescent Bulbs, Works with Alexa and Google Home, Neutral Wire Required, Remote Control Timer Countdown, Single-Pole: Amazon.ca: Industrial & Scientific

www.amazon.ca

They normally use a cloud based system called and controlled through an app called smartlife. But you can flash them "over the air" using a computer and a cell. Look up "tuya convert"

Manufacturers are waking up and making it harder to do that by updating the firmware process (it's a hole in the current update process that allows to install another firmware) or changing the hardware to make it incompatible with Tasmota.

Another option is to use Sonoff devices, which was the intended target for Tasmota but they are more cumbersome to use IMHO.

Home Assistant can run on a Raspberry Pi 3b and 4. They cost around $100 for a system with SD card, power supply and case. You simply install Home Assistant on the SD card and put it in the Raspberry Pi. Nothing more to it to install. Then it's the configuration that will take the most time. Their community forum and discord channel are very active and usually get an answer the same day if not hour.

Home Assistant can support Zigbee and Z-Wave devices as well as over 100 different integrations. My latest integration is speedtest.net in my Home Assistant at the cottage. When I'm not there, it will test the Internet speed once per hour and report its speed in a graph. I want to document my DSL internet speed so I can open an incident with them if it's not what I pay for.

Tell us more about how to get started with Tasmota!

Being Old School (and having been responsible for information security audits in the ancient world) my use of Smart technology is limited to outdoor lighting to see wildlife and the light I need to back the tractor into its barn stall. Hacking those would be harmless. Nothing else is 'Smart'. I'm not in a hurry to jump into the 21st century beyond this lighting until I have more control over where the data goes.

No Facebook here, WhatsAp only at the demand of my kids. And of course the 'Google knows all' inherent in web access is inescapable.

Tasmota sounds interesting!

 

[SylvainG]

Then I would stop doing what is now considered illegal. They can't charge me for something I was doing while it wasn't considered illegal.

Mind you, if the law is, to me, stupid, I would try to contest it but within what's allowed by law. I guess that's one of the perc of living in a free country.

Just let's say, they happen to change a law that suddenly makes you a criminal? Not that "THEY" would ever do something like that.

YOU could even suddenly be labelled and sought as a DOMESTIC TERRORIST"

 

[RedNeckGeek]

I have no use for Siri, so I didn't enable it when I activated my iPhone. I can say any of the Siri commands and nothing happens.

I don't use Siri a lot, but I do find it handy to walk into a dark room and say "Hey Siri, turn on the great room lights".

But I dread the day when Siri thinks the TV told it to "turn on everything"!

 

[gsganzer]

I believe with my latest 2020 F250, there's an option to link it to an insurance company to see if my driving habits make me eligible for discounts.

I'm not comfortable with all the data that's being collected on us. Same with these DNA tests, although it sounds neat, it also sounds like you could be opening pandora's box by letting others have access to your DNA.