- cross-posted to:
- programmer_humor@programming.dev
- cross-posted to:
- programmer_humor@programming.dev
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All jokes aside, IoT devices suck.
Why does a dishwasher need to connect to a remote server to use its full functionality? Why does my coffee maker need me to start it using an app? At that point it isn’t a feature, it’s a dependency that the company behind will eventually shut down one way or another.
Nothing IoT is allowed in my house if it can’t be fully managed locally with Home Assistant.
Frankly you shouldn’t stop with just IoT devices. My sister wouldn’t listen to the HA so she’s not allowed over. It was a bit of a fight in the family but the dog listens so it got to stay and I think that’s totally reasonable.
HA?
Home Assistant
Guess I’ll have to keep making coffee the old way
I doubt it.
My moka pot ain’t talkin’ to no one.
It only sings a sweet burbling song of coffee to me each morning. And afternoon.
Seriously. I’m not really sure why a coffee maker needs to have any technology. My electric kettle is about the highest tech thing in the whole process.
I have a stainless steel one but yeah pour-over gang reporting
The steam from the water powers a micro rotor and the coffee acts as an antenna, duh
Water boils. Evaporates to steam. Turbine goes brrrrr.
Hey, that’s a haiku
Wait until you find out what they’re doing to you through your toilet seat!
I don’t actually mind that. I kinda like that. (secretly)
Maybe it’s finally time we start kink-shaming some people.
I also like being kink shamed. (Not a secret)
Kinda relevant here
Eyes his french press suspiciously
I was gifted a thermal insulated coffee mug with built-in battery to keep hot. Connects to phone via Bluetooth. Got warnings that the mug would be able to track all 50+ Bluetooth MAC IDs that are in range (I’m in an apt building). That mug will never get turned on or used
As @Grostleton@lemmy.dbzer0.com said, that’s how every Bluetooth device works, but I’m also curious what purpose connecting a mug to a phone via Bluetooth serves.
Imagine being afraid of a Bluetooth device behaving like every other Bluetooth device ever created.
Except that it sounds like this hooked into an app and sent all the info about those Bluetooth devices to the manufacturer, which some data collectors can use process of elimination to isolate you. Normal (privacy-respecting) Bluetooth devices do not pass this info to the service provider and only your phone uses it to pair with the device.
Sounds more like the app presented a standard request for location access, which is required for scanning nearby devices to be able to find and pair the mug with an app.
E: For the paranoid:
https://developer.android.com/develop/connectivity/bluetooth/bt-permissions
You are correct that this is normal for the OS. The OS will use this data to determine your location. What is not normal is abusing the Bluetooth permission to send a list of scanned devices to app vendor. They should only be collecting the location, not the raw Bluetooth list. I don’t know what the app is to confirm, but the way they said it, they would be handing all of the local device data along with the standard location permission. This is the extra data that can be used to isolate you more than just a location could.
This is similar to browser fingerprinting, but worse because your phone goes with you everywhere.
One final mention is that the app is likely not collecting that list once, but rather regularly, so they could build a profile on what devices you’re in range of and by extension where you are regularly, even if you chose to disable your location, since they’re using Bluetooth MAC addresses as their workaround.
Shoots coffee maker Americanly. Shoots toaster too, just to be sure.
I like to imagine the guy who pitched spying on Americans through their coffee makers like “we need to figure out how much coffee Americans are drinking” and everyone in the room was just fully on board with this genius idea.
