My new clothes washer has an app.
It requires access to location, and phone settings or the app closes by design.
I don't think this stuff stops without legislation.
It requires access to location, and phone settings or the app closes by design.
I don't think this stuff stops without legislation.
Many people often think the house/life of a software developer is filled with "smart" things, and are astounded when they hear what I use. Maybe the younger ones are indeed surrounding themselves with this sort of predatory "smartness" and couldn't care less about the downsides, but not everyone in the industry thinks that way; sadly, I think those who don't want this crap are a dying breed.
It getting harder and harder to avoid this trash too. I fear it will be normal one day.
Yes. If not only because "cloud" services typically live for only a few years. Then the device is useless.
Tbh, there's nothing wrong with electronics, "smart" doesn't mean it needs an Internet connection.
Those are wear items, just like seals, and would definitely need to be replaced at regular intervals. Replacements are cheap and plentiful.
Tbh, there's nothing wrong with electronics, "smart" doesn't mean it needs an Internet connection
Electronics are more difficult to troubleshoot and specialised parts often become unavailable/rare quickly. I can do and have done component-level repair, but still prefer not to.
I enjoy the convenience of being able to control pretty much everything from bed, with just voice, but I can't get rid of the dystopian feeling that I'm just a "user" of it, but not in control of it.
My fridge just needs to keep my food cool. and I don't need to brew a cup of coffee from the bedroom.
Tech enthusiast: Everything in my house is smart.
Tech workers: The most smart device in my house is a printer and I keep a gun next to it in case it makes a weird noise.
The downside of this is that you can' distinguish between apps that just want to use Bluetooth, and apps that are trying to get your device location through location services, and users are trained that "bluetooth app = location permission is legit".
The app provides some benefits, but they're not required.
> I don’t think this stuff stops without legislation
I agree, but sadly I expect it would quickly boil down to “click OK to waive all your rights, which you really want in order to make the device actually do what you bought it for”.
Imagine someone hacks their flimsy IoT service and manages to start those 3kW heater elements in hundreds of thousands of washing machines all at once, what that will do to the power grid.
All those "* by using this free trial you agree to pay 19.99/month for at least 24 months" scams went away basically overnight.
The key to this is not to be afraid to aggressively add new dark patterns to the list of banned practices.
An alternative would be aggressively hitting scammers who clearly rely on people missing the fine print with criminal charges for fraud/extortion (when they try to collect on the non-contracts). No idea why that wasn't done - the legal system is usually a lot more resistant to the "well, TECHNICALLY" thing than engineers think.
Germany is really good about these rules. For example, a long list of practices, including mandatory arbitration, is explicitly forbidden (or forbidden in standard contracts) in § 308-309 BGB. § 312j BGB mandates clear disclosure that and what you're about to spend money on. The whole set of § 312-someletter is basically "we found another shitty practice and we're ending it now".
The US doesn't care at all, until it's huawei.