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--- ha:start [20/02/2023 09:38] – created - external edit 127.0.0.1
+++ ha:start [17/06/2025 15:21] (current) – andrew
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   * Buy Chinese (or other) light bulbs, switches or other devices which can be controlled from anywhere by an app on your phone. The way these work is that your device will talk to an externally controlled server  which in turn can communicate to your phone app. What's wrong here is that your data is entirely under the control of someone else who almost certainly does not share your goals, yours is to control your device, theirs is to create profit, and your information has a monetary value.  It relies on your internet connection too, so any line faults can stop you controlling your lightbulbs for example. Also, if the company goes out of business or "updates" it's products, your device may no longer be supported and just stop working even though it is still perfectly functional. This creates more electronic waste which the planet frankly does not need.
-  * Allow your devices to be controlled by **Alexa** or **Google** etc. Whilst being very convenient, if your smart speaker cannot talk back to Amazon's or Google's servers if your internet goes down for example, you cannot control your light bulbs in the same room as yourself. Google and Amazon (and others) want to know what you are doing, they collect  just about everything they can about you, knowledge is power as the saying goes. This alone should be enough to persuade you not to fall in to their walled garden with the fragrant and pretty flowers to entice you.
+  * Allow your devices to be controlled by **Alexa** or **Google** etc. Whilst being very convenient, if your smart speaker cannot talk back to Amazon's or Google's servers if your internet goes down for example, you cannot control your light bulbs in the same room as yourself. Google and Amazon (and others) want to know what you are doing, they collect  just about everything they can about you (Checkout how much info RING doorbells send to Amazon and what Kindle logs about your usage), knowledge is power as the saying goes. This alone should be enough to persuade you not to fall in to their walled garden with the fragrant and pretty flowers to entice you.
   * Data security and privacy - even if the anonymous company servers are well intentioned, they still stand the chance of being hacked. If they go offline, all the people who have bought their products will be unable to operate their devices. Whilst the company may have the servers back online quickly, there is a more insidious threat, most of these devices support "Over the Air Updates", if a hacked server was to be instructed to initiate and update for all devices with deliberately infected or faulty firmware, your devices may become part of a botnet and spy on you, or just get bricked with no possibility of working again.
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 SR-201 - Ethernet controlled relay module interface:- [[ha:sr201|SR201 network controlled module]]
-===== Index =====
+===== Links =====
+This article sums up all my concerns about buying in to someone elses whatever and not controlling it.
 [[https://gizmodo.com/in-2030-you-wont-own-any-gadgets-1847176540]]