This week’s roundup discusses how the police in the United States can tap into home security cameras and track criminal activities, how the US senate is working on IoT privacy laws, and much more. Plus, take a look at our Cyber Monday deal.
Police Can Live-Stream Your Porch Using Amazon Ring Cameras
In Jackson, Mississippi, many police officers are conducting a 45-day pilot program where they have the authority to use security cameras, including Amazon ring cameras, of residents. If you are a Jackson resident who signed a waiver form to become a part of this pilot program, then the Ring livestream from your own front door will be seen by police officers at nearby stations. That may sound creepy to a whole new level!
Want to know the most comforting part? The police will only access camera streams when there is a crime reported in that area to track the culprit, according to the mayor of the city. This gives the police a huge advantage here because they don’t have to spend money on security cameras, so they’ll be able to access neighborhoods anytime they want.
This is both good and bad news. Let us fill you in here, pal. The good part is the police can be able to reduce crimes in Jackson as this particular city is managing up to 110 homicide cases so far in 2020, which is scary if you compare it to last year’s numbers. Also, the police don’t have to install their own security cameras and live stream your front door without your approval.
Now, here’s the downside of this pilot program: your privacy and rights are totally violated. Imagine you are living in Jackson and don’t sign a waiver to allow the police to do a camera-stream. What about your neighbors? If your neighbor whose home camera faces yours, the police can still see your front door. Basically, your privacy is violated regardless. We saw this announced in 2019, but despite insistence to shut it down, the police aren’t backing down as evidenced in this partnership with law enforcement in Jackson, MS.
#Orwell and #BigBrother are Watching: "Jackson is operating this pilot program without #Amazon’s input, demonstrating just how deeply #Ring has penetrated communities, spreading fear and paranoia and raising privacy concerns. " https://t.co/nBvPS1vDil
— Cory Morris (@CoryMorrisesq) November 8, 2020
This is like the police saying: if you have nothing to hide then show everything. But remember this, you are always entitled to your privacy rights even if you have nothing to hide.
What if you are having a cigarette by your front door and the police pops up thinking that you are smoking pot? This actually made me laugh! The government should also start putting signs on the front yards saying, We are watching you! On the other hand, most people with an Amazon Ring camera may support this pilot program, so we are not judging anyone here.
Hear This If You Are Using an Amazon Echo Device!
Assuming you have an Amazon Echo device, you might have received an email from Amazon earlier that Amazon Sidewalk is coming soon. Have you received this in your inbox?
“When enabled, Sidewalk uses a small portion of your Internet bandwidth to provide these services to you and your neighbors. This setting will apply to all of your supported Echo and Ring devices that are linked to your Amazon account.”
To put it simply, Amazon Sidewalk is a sort of shared network for every sidewalk-enabled device which includes your Amazon Echo (that eavesdrops your conversations) or Ring Smart Lights. With Sidewalk, your Amazon device will remain connected to the internet and cover long distances, giving neighbors walking the sidewalk closest to your house (and within range of all your Amazon devices) access to your internet (online privacy just got a panic attack).
But before you start raising fingers on Sidewalk, Amazon has said that this device is carefully designed with several security layers and privacy features. Like we are going to buy this statement. You can, however, disable this Sidewalk option from the Alexa app because it is turned on by default. (If it’s off already, which it was for our editor, be mindful that it may turn on later, so don’t forget to check out this setting before it becomes a real thing.)
Moreover, Amazon said that your neighbors won’t be able to see your devices, but we, the PureVengers, believe there are some serious concerns about using Sidewalk. Can you be able to see which (neighborhood) devices are connected to your private network? Can you whitelist or blacklist any device like you do on a home network? We were told the answer is no.
Too many questions are lurking in our mind right now.
We’re still nervous af about this. Imagine some guy deciding it’s safer to use your sidewalk’s internet to do some shady and illegal activity. Who will take the fall when law enforcement traces this back to your IP address?
So our perspective is simply this: how on earth did Amazon think this was a good idea?!
Mark Zuckerberg is Not a Stalker
But Facebook stalking users again! In the Messenger app, Facebook recently had a bug that allowed hackers to call you using the voice feature to hear you before you even picked up. Creepy.
We’re happy to report that Facebook patched the bug, but this doesn’t mean the Messenger app is safe for you to use just yet. In fact, you may not have the latest version of the update that includes the patch. If you have an Android device and are reading this right now, please update the Messenger app on your phone asap. Better yet? Update all the mobile apps in your phone because security patches are continuously released on the PlayStore.
What if we ask you to delete the Messenger app from your phone? Too harsh? But let me tell you this, bud, every message you send via Messenger goes through Facebook servers, which technically knows everything about you. On top of that, there are millions of fake accounts on Facebook and you can’t really tell who’s who.
In the end, privacy on Facebook is truly an illusion, both on a technological perspective and an interpersonal perspective. You choose.
Someone made a fake facebook account with my deceased teachers name and picture and asked me to "refollow her". I had a heart attack. I went to her funeral. I was questioning my sanity and reality.
— AndraMarie (@AndraMarieArt) November 26, 2020
Some Good News…
The United States senate unanimously passed the IoT Cybersecurity Improvement Act, which President Donald Trump is yet to sign. This is the latest development and quite frankly good news for IoT device users. We have shared in many of our roundups and blogs that Amazon Echo listens to your conversations, hackers can tap into baby monitors and cameras, and IoT devices have weak security protocols.
Considering all of the above scary stuff that we know about, this improvement act can make things better for both of us, you and I. To make a long story short, the government will make sure whether or not IoT device sellers, both private and public, are maintaining standard security protocols.
We, the PureVengers, also thank the senators who pushed this improvement act because IoT devices do lack security and privacy. We stand for privacy rights and help you, and every internet user, enhance their online privacy on their own. That’s why we share these weekly roundups to help our readers and every person with a phone understand the real dangers of the internet.
Whether it is Facebook, Google, or Amazon, once your data goes online every website tries to get a hold of it. These social media and online retailers want to grab as much data as they can so they can show you items you want to buy and things you want to watch.
To combat this growing problem, it is important to ensure no one is prying your online activities. What you do online should always remain private. And as a solution provider, we can give you a tool, like VPN, that is specifically designed to hide your online identity. Because in the future your data will be the most valuable asset and not that pile of cash under your pillow.
Also, the good part about using PureVPN is that your online activities are not only hidden but the VPN app doesn’t store anything. None. Nada. The VPN servers have no clue whether you are searching online to find out if there is water on Mars or who killed Malcolm X. We don’t judge anyone and respect your privacy. No more snooping-ness from your ISP too!
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November 24, 2022
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