Just looking at email lately and found a newsletter that might be of value to each and every one of us.
Sonos, the product that is in my living area is a nice speaker. I don’t have the latest models, but they were once on the nice list. Better just keep what I have. If it quits, it quits.
Other products that seem to be on the naughty line include anything Google.
Who says this: the latest newsletter from Kim Komando talking about the gadgets that snoop on you.
You might want to read it so you know how to protect others you care about.
Before you buy holiday gifts, check this list for tech snoops is the article.
Three items of interest from the article include:
- Wyze’s smart home app asks for permission to read your text messages. Nope.
- Bose headphones can track head movements — and may sell that data, along with your email address. Huh?
- iRobot jumped into AI with the Roomba, and images from inside users’ homes leaked to Facebook. Come on!
We talked about EUFY in the past, I think that company should be boycotted.
We also talked about EUFY on podcast 124 of TSB.
Here are other items of value.
- Some good broke bad: Sonos and Bose have been in Mozilla’s good graces for privacy in recent years. They have earned its *Privacy Not Included warning label for the first time.
- Google went from just OK to officially bad: Also joining the formerly OK but now naughty list are (Google-owned) Fitbit and Tile trackers.
- Bad guys who keep getting worse: Amazon, Amazon Ring, Samsung, Microsoft Xbox and Wyze were already on the naughty list, but they managed to get worse.
- AI integration is much more common: It is used in at least 94 of the products Mozilla reviewed. Often, that means your personal information can be stored, studied, shared or all of the above. Two such cases: iRobot’s test-run Roombas’ video recordings were reviewed by humans for AI training. That resulted in images from inside test-users’ homes showing up on Facebook.
- Creepiest product ever: Mozilla added a ton of new products to its roster this year. Some were good, some were bad and others left Mozilla speechless. Almost. It rarely says this, but do not buy the Angel Watch for your child or vulnerable person in your life. This surveillance watch doesn’t have a privacy policy at all!
I know that I am not buying a single thing, maybe I’ll buy an amazon gift card for myself and of course I buy wisely. But Kims article should be read and its entirety. Have fun with this one!
Again, the article is titled Dreamstime.com
SECURITY & PRIVACY
Before you buy holiday gif for your perusal. Stay safe this holiday season!
Just a note, The Mix will start Christmas and holiday automation on Monday, the 20th. The Independent artist channel will start on December 1st if I remember how to set it all up.
I hope you enjoy your holiday season. We’ll be here during it to see what we can do to make sure you’re as safe as possible.