6 ms·

I must have missed the part in the Nest manual where they told you to expect complete strangers to be able to watch you and speak to you through it.

bluetidepro 8y ago
Actually, that is in the manual. That's a feature of the product. You can watch and speak through it. Just because a stranger got your password from an unrelated security breach to Nest, doesn't make it Nest's fault. They have the tools available, and even encourage you in the setup process to setup 2-factor (I just recently set one up). Outside of that, this is user error, in my opinion. Nothing was "hacked" on Nest's end.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
christophilus 8y ago
It's the part that talks about how there's a camera and a speaker on an IoT device that's connected to the internet. Seriously, though, my neighbor's entire house is wired up. His lights, his camera / security system, his shades, his music player, his TV... just about everything is integrated into Alexa. It boggles my mind why an otherwise intelligent person would do this.
- cgriswald 8y ago
  It's crazy to me that this is the way things are, and that a lot of these companies charge a service fee for remote access. A better way would be VPN offerings for the home from ISPs, and the devices working only locally.
kodablah 8y ago
I also missed that in the Facetime manual.
esotericn 8y ago
A camera pointing at your face should be assumed to be turned on and recording you. A camera pointing at your face hooked up to the Internet should be assumed to be broadcasting that information to the world. We know this intuitively. Humans dislike eye contact from strangers because of what it implies. Cameras don't hit the same basic reflexes (likely because we've optimized them that way). If we haven't done a good enough job of educating users on that, we need to address it. The UK Government run cybersecurity adverts occasionally. I don't think they go far enough. I tell everyone I encounter to assume the worst case unless proven otherwise. The purveyors of a commercial product aren't going to detail these things unless forced. See 'everything else ever' - food, drink, medicine, ...
- cgriswald 8y ago
  I wonder if this is a generational thing. I'm gen x and cameras absolutely hit the 'same basic reflexes' for me. When someone has their camera/phone out I sense where it is looking at least as much as I sense where people's eyes are looking. My millenial girlfriend, my youngest siblings and cousins, etc., don't seem to be aware; nor do they have the same ideas of rudeness/politeness with camera use that I have.
  - freehunter 8y ago
    My wife and I are both millennials and all the time she'll be playing with a Snapchat filter holding her phone straight out, and I'll ask her why she's filming me. From the back of the phone, it's completely indistinguishable.

bluetidepro 8y ago

Actually, that is in the manual. That's a feature of the product. You can watch and speak through it. Just because a stranger got your password from an unrelated security breach to Nest, doesn't make it Nest's fault. They have the tools available, and even encourage you in the setup process to setup 2-factor (I just recently set one up). Outside of that, this is user error, in my opinion. Nothing was "hacked" on Nest's end.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

christophilus 8y ago

It's the part that talks about how there's a camera and a speaker on an IoT device that's connected to the internet. Seriously, though, my neighbor's entire house is wired up. His lights, his camera / security system, his shades, his music player, his TV... just about everything is integrated into Alexa. It boggles my mind why an otherwise intelligent person would do this.

cgriswald 8y ago
It's crazy to me that this is the way things are, and that a lot of these companies charge a service fee for remote access. A better way would be VPN offerings for the home from ISPs, and the devices working only locally.

kodablah 8y ago

I also missed that in the Facetime manual.

esotericn 8y ago

A camera pointing at your face should be assumed to be turned on and recording you. A camera pointing at your face hooked up to the Internet should be assumed to be broadcasting that information to the world. We know this intuitively. Humans dislike eye contact from strangers because of what it implies. Cameras don't hit the same basic reflexes (likely because we've optimized them that way). If we haven't done a good enough job of educating users on that, we need to address it. The UK Government run cybersecurity adverts occasionally. I don't think they go far enough. I tell everyone I encounter to assume the worst case unless proven otherwise. The purveyors of a commercial product aren't going to detail these things unless forced. See 'everything else ever' - food, drink, medicine, ...

cgriswald 8y ago
I wonder if this is a generational thing. I'm gen x and cameras absolutely hit the 'same basic reflexes' for me. When someone has their camera/phone out I sense where it is looking at least as much as I sense where people's eyes are looking. My millenial girlfriend, my youngest siblings and cousins, etc., don't seem to be aware; nor do they have the same ideas of rudeness/politeness with camera use that I have.
- freehunter 8y ago
  My wife and I are both millennials and all the time she'll be playing with a Snapchat filter holding her phone straight out, and I'll ask her why she's filming me. From the back of the phone, it's completely indistinguishable.