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I am seriously interested in a device which will spam garbage to the smart devices in my house so that the companies monitoring my data will not be able to extr

by bloaf 7y ago

I am seriously interested in a device which will spam garbage to the smart devices in my house so that the companies monitoring my data will not be able to extract anything useful. E.g. some kind of speech synthesizer which mimics my voice and sends engineered requests to Alexa while I'm not around. E.g. A GPS spoofer that will occasionally tell my phone that I am visiting places I don't. E.g. A browser extension to send random browsing info to trackers.

bronco21016 7y ago
The second two examples I can get onboard with. But the Alexa example? Throw the thing out the window. Is it really so useful that it’s worth having a separate device to talk to it? Check out TrackMeNot for browser tracking obfuscation. https://github.com/vtoubiana/TrackMeNot https://github.com/vtoubiana/TrackMeNot
- WalterBright 7y ago
  If/when I become bedridden, I imagine Alexa would be quite useful. Until then, no, I'll settle for heaving my sorry carcass out of the chair and pushing a button instead.
- atoav 7y ago
  Having an Alexa and trying to maintain a positive feeling about privacy by spoofing it showcases one of the fundamental conflicts of our time: they want you to give up the rights yourself. Of course they will never tell you the full extent of what happens to your data or inform you in clear terms about changes — they just give you enough so you can lie to yourself about it probably not beeing soo bad. In my eyes one of the few solutions you really have is to DIY these things, but while this has the pro of teaching you a lot, it costs time, patience and requires skill levels not everybody might have just to end up with something that might work okayish (depending on skill and time invested). This is why I believe this has to be a law thing. Just like in other areas you can safely assume certain product standards (e.g. you can buy food in the supermarket and it won’t contain hard drugs that make you addicted) and these kinds of guarantuees need to exist for digital services as well. There needs to be a clear standard for what they are allowed to do and what not without me explicitly voiding those assumptions.
anonytrary 7y ago
Sounds like you'd want this, but for it to truly work, you could also end up suffering. For example: > A GPS spoofer that will occasionally tell my phone that I am visiting places I don't. Sure, but the next time you want to see your Google Maps history, you'll question your own sanity. > some kind of speech synthesizer which mimics my voice and sends engineered requests to Alexa while I'm not around. Sure, but then you're liable for everything your spoofer says if it truly isn't distinguishable from your own voice. If it is distinguishable, then it defeats the purpose of hiding your true behavior in the first place.
- jMyles 7y ago
  > Sure, but then you're liable for everything your spoofer says if it truly isn't distinguishable from your own voice. Liable in what sense? What kind of liability are you thinking about here?
  - new_guy 7y ago
    The next time you or your spoofer jokes about blowing up a Mosque or you commit an illegal act. Alexa will call the cops on you. All of Alexa's requests are monitored for keywords, it's pretty much the most amazing surveillance system ever. Here's one example https://vt.co/news/us/amazon-alexa-calls-911-after-hearing-man-allegedly-beating-girlfriend/ https://vt.co/news/us/amazon-alexa-calls-911-after-hearing-m...
    - cjsawyer 7y ago
      That article says that he told it “did you call the sherifs?” ...then it called the sherif.
- yorwba 7y ago
  > Sure, but the next time you want to see your Google Maps history, you'll question your own sanity. Indeed I'd question my sanity, as I can usually remember roughly where I've been yesterday and don't see much use in looking up where I'd been a year ago. Of course I might be missing out on something, since I don't use Google Maps at all. (I prefer OpenStreetMap.) In what kind of situation is being able to look up one's own location history actually useful?

by bloaf 7y ago

bronco21016 7y ago

The second two examples I can get onboard with. But the Alexa example? Throw the thing out the window. Is it really so useful that it’s worth having a separate device to talk to it? Check out TrackMeNot for browser tracking obfuscation. https://github.com/vtoubiana/TrackMeNot https://github.com/vtoubiana/TrackMeNot

WalterBright 7y ago
If/when I become bedridden, I imagine Alexa would be quite useful. Until then, no, I'll settle for heaving my sorry carcass out of the chair and pushing a button instead.
atoav 7y ago
Having an Alexa and trying to maintain a positive feeling about privacy by spoofing it showcases one of the fundamental conflicts of our time: they want you to give up the rights yourself. Of course they will never tell you the full extent of what happens to your data or inform you in clear terms about changes — they just give you enough so you can lie to yourself about it probably not beeing soo bad. In my eyes one of the few solutions you really have is to DIY these things, but while this has the pro of teaching you a lot, it costs time, patience and requires skill levels not everybody might have just to end up with something that might work okayish (depending on skill and time invested). This is why I believe this has to be a law thing. Just like in other areas you can safely assume certain product standards (e.g. you can buy food in the supermarket and it won’t contain hard drugs that make you addicted) and these kinds of guarantuees need to exist for digital services as well. There needs to be a clear standard for what they are allowed to do and what not without me explicitly voiding those assumptions.

anonytrary 7y ago

Sounds like you'd want this, but for it to truly work, you could also end up suffering. For example: > A GPS spoofer that will occasionally tell my phone that I am visiting places I don't. Sure, but the next time you want to see your Google Maps history, you'll question your own sanity. > some kind of speech synthesizer which mimics my voice and sends engineered requests to Alexa while I'm not around. Sure, but then you're liable for everything your spoofer says if it truly isn't distinguishable from your own voice. If it is distinguishable, then it defeats the purpose of hiding your true behavior in the first place.

jMyles 7y ago
> Sure, but then you're liable for everything your spoofer says if it truly isn't distinguishable from your own voice. Liable in what sense? What kind of liability are you thinking about here?
- new_guy 7y ago
  The next time you or your spoofer jokes about blowing up a Mosque or you commit an illegal act. Alexa will call the cops on you. All of Alexa's requests are monitored for keywords, it's pretty much the most amazing surveillance system ever. Here's one example https://vt.co/news/us/amazon-alexa-calls-911-after-hearing-man-allegedly-beating-girlfriend/ https://vt.co/news/us/amazon-alexa-calls-911-after-hearing-m...
  - cjsawyer 7y ago
    That article says that he told it “did you call the sherifs?” ...then it called the sherif.
yorwba 7y ago
> Sure, but the next time you want to see your Google Maps history, you'll question your own sanity. Indeed I'd question my sanity, as I can usually remember roughly where I've been yesterday and don't see much use in looking up where I'd been a year ago. Of course I might be missing out on something, since I don't use Google Maps at all. (I prefer OpenStreetMap.) In what kind of situation is being able to look up one's own location history actually useful?