And I say this as somebody who uses Amazon to publish my books.
Amazon Sidewalk is a shared network that helps devices like Amazon Echo devices, Ring Security Cams, outdoor lights, motion sensors, and Tile trackers work better at home and beyond the front door. When enabled, Sidewalk can unlock unique benefits for your device, support other Sidewalk devices in your community, and even locate pets or lost items.
Click the link above to see what Amazon products you suddenly don’t want in your house. Although a quick-and-dirty rule of thumb there would be anything with the word ‘Echo’ in the product name.
Hard pass.
.
Pity the poor tenants whose landlords have gone full Amazon…
.
Mew
The level of spying already present is horrifying.
Keeping in mind that I refuse nearly every “sharing invitation” request, go out of my way to “opt out” off tracking, have minimal apps on my phone—all of them with limited permissions, that Alexa/Siri/etc. are deliberately not set up or enabled…
At the end of last week, I had a problem come up that would need a professional to come out and solve. (OK, technically I could have done it, but the pro can do it better, faster, and is insured. Anyway, the salient point is that it’s a one-time thing with a company I’ve never done business with.)
So I made the call, set up the appointment, and went to put it in my calendar.
To find out my calendar was already “suggesting” the appropriate data for the appropriate fields.
I’ll admit to still being a bit freaked out by that.
Not quite enough to start keeping consumer electronics in a faraday cage, but the thought of how to do it did occur to me. (Followed by thoughts of whether a blank spot would send up red flags.)