Public service: you have until June 08, 2021 to opt out of Amazon's Sidewalk

Presented as a Public Service if you own one or more Amazon internet devices. NOTE: Kindle devices are not affected.

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Amazon is launching its Wi-Fi sharing system, called Sidewalk, nationwide in the U.S. on June 8. That means if you own a Ring doorbell or Amazon Echo the company will share a small portion of your internet bandwidth with other devices nearby. It’s aimed at making sure Amazon’s devices are able to be online even if, say, your broadband goes down as well as allowing access to devices outside of the normal range of your Wi-Fi.

Amazon’s selling this as a way to ensure that smart home devices can be reached more easily as well as allowing Amazon to offer certain customer support for those devices even when they’ve dropped off your network.

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Last, let’s not forget who’s providing this new way for everyone to share and share alike. As independent privacy researcher Ashkan Soltani puts it: “In addition to capturing everyone’s shopping habits (from amazon.com) and their internet activity (as AWS is one of the most dominant web hosting services)... now they are also effectively becoming a global ISP with a flick of a switch, all without even having to lay a single foot of fiber.”

Amazon’s decision to make Sidewalk an opt-out service rather than an opt-in one is also telling. The company knows the only chance of the service gaining critical mass is to turn it on by default, so that’s what it’s doing. Fortunately, turning Sidewalk off is relatively painless. It involves:

1. Opening the Alexa app
2. Opening More and selecting Settings
3. Selecting Account Settings
4. Selecting Amazon Sidewalk
5. Turning Amazon Sidewalk Off

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Sidewalk Bridges are devices that provide connections to Amazon Sidewalk. Today, Sidewalk Bridges include many Echo devices and select Ring Floodlight and Spotlight Cams. A comprehensive list of Sidewalk devices includes:

* Ring Floodlight Cam (2019)
* Ring Spotlight Cam Wired (2019)
* Ring Spotlight Cam Mount (2019)
* Echo (3rd gen and newer)
* Echo Dot (3rd gen and newer)
* Echo Dot for Kids (3rd gen and newer)
* Echo Dot with Clock (3rd gen and newer)
* Echo Plus (all generations)
* Echo Show (2nd gen)
* Echo Show 5, 8, 10 (all generations)
* Echo Spot
* Echo Studio
* Echo Input
* Echo Flex

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Note that the risk is minimal and only a limited number of devices are included and that it is very easy to opt out if you want.

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Originally Posted by jar

Note that the risk is minimal and only a limited number of devices are included and that it is very easy to opt out if you want.

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you shouldn't have to "opt out" at all. This is a scumbag tactic and right in line with what Amazon and Google usually do.

This is why our house is entirely Apple. While they do screw me on repairability, that is not unique to Apple, everyone in the tech industry does it. What IS unique to Apple is that they don't harvest or sell my data.

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Originally Posted by jar

Note that the risk is minimal and only a limited number of devices are included and that it is very easy to opt out if you want.

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It should be an opt-in.

Yawn!

Exactly what data might Amazon harvest using this feature that you have not already provided them?

"If you're not a criminal, what are you afraid of anyway?"

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Originally Posted by adhoc

"If you're not a criminal, what are you afraid of anyway?"

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I know you said this ironically/sarcastically but there are those who use it seriously and frankly this is the most disgusting, brain dead and infuriating argument anyone ever uses.

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Originally Posted by jar

Yawn!

Exactly what data might Amazon harvest using this feature that you have not already provided them?

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This is the kind of apathy that lets them continue to get away with taking more and more and more. They already have too much. Why would you let them have even more!? That’s not what people who bought a ring flood light cam thought they were getting. They were SOLD a security camera. What they got was data harvesting. And now it appears they will be paying internet fees so that Amazon can further benefit. Most people have no idea how invasive Amazon and Google are. And Amazon and Google WANT to KEEP it that way.

I was excited to hear that Amazon was looking into a street named after them. As a big fan of Amazon, I always love the opportunity to promote them and their services. But as I wrote a few posts back, (see: here ) I also like to help people find better alternatives. Need to check this remove amazon feedback and get more ways about amazon. And in this particular case, there are plenty of options for where you should spend your money and time. That's why today I am writing about Amazon's competitors. Namely focusing on why you shouldn't buy from Amazon's new concept called Sidewalk.

Spam reported.

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Originally Posted by Lome1989

I was excited to hear that Amazon was looking into a street named after them. As a big fan of Amazon, I always love the opportunity to promote them and their services. But as I wrote a few posts back, (see: here ) I also like to help people find better alternatives like Voiso for call centers. Need to check this remove amazon feedback and get more ways about amazon. And in this particular case, there are plenty of options for where you should spend your money and time. That's why today I am writing about Amazon's competitors. Namely focusing on why you shouldn't buy from Amazon's new concept called Sidewalk.

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I re read the post twice but still didn't get the point :(

Screw Amazon. Bezos destroyed the book trade as a living for genuine writers.

I use it to search sometimes, and always buy elsewhere.