6 ms·

I wonder how many tens of thousands of people have now unknowingly installed internet-connected microphones in their kitchens, garages, laundry rooms, and bathr

by jelder 10y ago

I wonder how many tens of thousands of people have now unknowingly installed internet-connected microphones in their kitchens, garages, laundry rooms, and bathrooms.

jasonjayr 10y ago
Probably far fewer than the millions of people willingly carrying portable internet-connected microphones (+ GPS devices) on their person.
- throw_away 10y ago
  + cameras + biometric info + more or less all your personal data and passwords
freehunter 10y ago
Well the Dash button has very little on-board storage, so it can't save much voice. It also has a very limited battery, so it turns itself off unless the button is pushed, and when the button is pushed it's only on long enough to send a command to Amazon (not long enough to send saved voice data). People complaining about things they didn't take five seconds to understand is how FUD gets spread. Please don't contribute to this nonsense.
- andrewstuart2 10y ago
  I don't think this qualifies as FUD, nor misinformation. If this is FUD, then all of DefCon is also. This is simply pointing out the onboard capabilities of a device people are indeed installing in their homes. Clearly this is a microphone-enabled wifi-enabled device. State actors use passive bugs [1] with vastly fewer internal capabilities, so I think it's foolish to discount the possibility that it could be misused. Especially when it's so readily available. Given the use of passive bugs, it's pretty obvious that zero onboard storage is required for a listening device to be useful to those with resources to collect the information real-time. It's healthy to understand the inherent trade-offs you're making by installing such a device, and make sure you can monitor its usage appropriately if you choose to keep one in a place you presume is reasonably private. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thing_(listening_device) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thing_(listening_device)
  - cmdrfred 10y ago
    The battery is the limitation here. Sure maybe you record for a day or two even but it simply can't last longer than that.
    - freehunter 10y ago
      A Cortex M3 on a single AAA battery can only last a few hours without sleeping. 3.3 volts at 200-300 mA with a 1200 mAh battery doesn't provide much wiggle room.
  - freehunter 10y ago
    "The Thing" is not powered by a battery. The Dash button is. That's the whole difference between active devices like the Dash and passive devices like The Thing. And yes, saying "Dash buttons are secret government wiretaps!" is FUD, no matter how subtly you say it. There's literally a simple way to test: sniff the wire. And people have done that (https://medium.com/@edwardbenson/how-i-hacked-amazon-s-5-wifi-button-to-track-baby-data-794214b0bdd8#.3hx6rzjct https://medium.com/@edwardbenson/how-i-hacked-amazon-s-5-wif...). Spoilers: exactly what you'd expect. I'd also like to see how long you think a WiFi device powered by a single AAA battery would last while streaming voice to the Internet. Conclusion: FUD.

by jelder 10y ago

I wonder how many tens of thousands of people have now unknowingly installed internet-connected microphones in their kitchens, garages, laundry rooms, and bathrooms.

jasonjayr 10y ago

Probably far fewer than the millions of people willingly carrying portable internet-connected microphones (+ GPS devices) on their person.

throw_away 10y ago
+ cameras + biometric info + more or less all your personal data and passwords

freehunter 10y ago

Well the Dash button has very little on-board storage, so it can't save much voice. It also has a very limited battery, so it turns itself off unless the button is pushed, and when the button is pushed it's only on long enough to send a command to Amazon (not long enough to send saved voice data). People complaining about things they didn't take five seconds to understand is how FUD gets spread. Please don't contribute to this nonsense.

andrewstuart2 10y ago
I don't think this qualifies as FUD, nor misinformation. If this is FUD, then all of DefCon is also. This is simply pointing out the onboard capabilities of a device people are indeed installing in their homes. Clearly this is a microphone-enabled wifi-enabled device. State actors use passive bugs [1] with vastly fewer internal capabilities, so I think it's foolish to discount the possibility that it could be misused. Especially when it's so readily available. Given the use of passive bugs, it's pretty obvious that zero onboard storage is required for a listening device to be useful to those with resources to collect the information real-time. It's healthy to understand the inherent trade-offs you're making by installing such a device, and make sure you can monitor its usage appropriately if you choose to keep one in a place you presume is reasonably private. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thing_(listening_device) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thing_(listening_device)
- cmdrfred 10y ago
  The battery is the limitation here. Sure maybe you record for a day or two even but it simply can't last longer than that.
  - freehunter 10y ago
    A Cortex M3 on a single AAA battery can only last a few hours without sleeping. 3.3 volts at 200-300 mA with a 1200 mAh battery doesn't provide much wiggle room.
- freehunter 10y ago
  "The Thing" is not powered by a battery. The Dash button is. That's the whole difference between active devices like the Dash and passive devices like The Thing. And yes, saying "Dash buttons are secret government wiretaps!" is FUD, no matter how subtly you say it. There's literally a simple way to test: sniff the wire. And people have done that (https://medium.com/@edwardbenson/how-i-hacked-amazon-s-5-wifi-button-to-track-baby-data-794214b0bdd8#.3hx6rzjct https://medium.com/@edwardbenson/how-i-hacked-amazon-s-5-wif...). Spoilers: exactly what you'd expect. I'd also like to see how long you think a WiFi device powered by a single AAA battery would last while streaming voice to the Internet. Conclusion: FUD.