Re: Security News This Week: Hackers Are Erasing Western Digital Hard Drives Remotely

In article <[email protected]>, Mayayana
<[email protected]> wrote:

>   There was an argument in a Reddit privacy forum. Apparently some
> people were stunned that their thermostat was taken over, while
> others said they had agreed to it in exchange for lower rates. But
> the reported case seemed fishy: People "agreed" in exchange for
> being entered into some sort of mickey mouse sweepstakes. But
> who would even think of needing to agree to, or watch out for,
> such a thing when simply buying a thermostat?

they didn't 'simply buy a thermostat'.

they received a discount, and in some cases, it was completely free,
which requires agreeing to certain terms.

had they paid full price from a store, there would be no strings
attached. in fact, the utility would have no way of knowing there is
even a smart thermostat in use.

>   Google came to my mind because I just started reading The Age
> of Surveillance Capitalism. In the introduction the author uses the
> example of Google's Nest thermostat, which has app tie-ins, motion
> detectors, and connections to other devices that can allow Google
> to track and study people's activities around the house. A study
> showed that anyone attempting to actually have a real contract
> to approve of all such spying through the device would require
> over 1,000 contracts... And of course, these things have been
> hacked. But the people who buy them don't think of that. Nor
> should they. The tech geniuses are all telling them it's the
> greatest thing since sliced bread. You can probably get an app
> to have your Nest call for your Egg McMuffin to be delivered as
> soon as the connected security cameras detect your eyes opening.
> Who wouldn't want that? :)

those who don't like egg mcmuffins, obviously.