AT&T Introduces IP-Based Home Automation And Security System | Hacker News Reader

AT&T Introduces IP-Based Home Automation And Security System

techcrunch.com

13 pointsnikunjk9 comments

Given AT&T's track record on issues of privacy, I wonder what sorts of easter eggs will be hiding in Digital Life's terms of service.

That's a good point. I wonder what future law enforcement potential this will have.

"House too warm? Must be a grow operation."

Depends on how data-nuts they can actually go. If they wanted to get really nuts and they actually stored all the data they can track, from your house, car, phone calls, etc... think what any extremely intelligent and powerful (i.e. resources– ATT or NSA, doesn't matter) could do with that kind of information. If enough people subscribed and they could start plugging in external data such as sex offender registrars, it would only be a matter of time before they found a decent model for pattern behaviors. When there's a crime in the area or someone is suspected of X, they could simply compare their base model to John Doe's log, timestamps and all, and determine that hey, those 5 phone calls and 3 garage exits in one hour do seem fishy to us! *knock knock

The good: That's a lot of work for anything that isn't "major" crime. I can't imagine it would help them any more for cybercrime either. BUT, it would be super interesting to see such a system implemented if you're never on the receiving end...

The bad: Everything else. Regardless of how advanced it is, how they use it is everything. And given their track record (sourced above), privacy/trust doesn't seem to be their forte.

That navigation system shown in the video is just atrocious. It took a full 20 seconds just to render the map interface, and (as far as I can hear) gave no confirmation that it'd actually heard his over-annunciated (and practically yelled) query.

My 4 year old iPhone 3G is a better navigator than this. What's the deal with built-in car navigation systems?

Very long product cycles is one thing.

My 2006 Audi, and up to 2008 Audi A4 models, has a nav system (RNS-E) which was essentially unchanged since introduction in MY 2002 (so, developed around 1999-2000). Hence, 4GB SD card (no SDHC) limitation, DVD based, slow, etc.

It's better than any smartphone or pda developed in 1999, as a navigation device, at least.

Electronics should rev a whole lot faster than the rest of the car -- there are plenty of cars from the 1990s which are relatively modern in drivetrain technology, and certainly cars from ~2000 (Honda S2000, for instance).

And honestly, in some ways it's in their best interests to keep the electronics from developing quickly. If car electronics were open to external access, we'd have third party software running on iPads in no time. The slow pace lets them make incremental improvements at whatever pace they think is appropriate to selling cars.

I'm reminded of a story from The Daily WTF where someone made a tenfold increase in speed by rewriting something, and their boss had them add a deliberate delay so they could let the improvements out over several releases. To improve it too much would be admitting that their previous version was poor, and they'd rather milk more modest speed bumps over several years of releases.

On the boob tube the other day, I saw for the first time an add for a Comcast -- err... Xfinity -- home security system. Apparently, this is a "new" market for competition for these behemoth entrenched ISP's.

Given my experience with Comcast's pricing, I might sarcastically suppose it would be cheaper just to let the burglars break in.

Thanks, but I'll skip: "AT&T has been named a defendant in a class action lawsuit that claims the telecommunications company illegally cooperated with the National Security Agency's secret eavesdropping program.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in San Francisco's federal district court, charges that AT&T has opened its telecommunications facilities up to the NSA and continues to "to assist the government in its secret surveillance of millions of ordinary Americans."

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, which filed the suit, says AT&T's alleged cooperation violates free speech and privacy rights found in the U.S. Constitution and also contravenes federal wiretapping law, which prohibits electronic surveillance "except as authorized by statute" http://news.cnet.com/ATT-sued-over-NSA-spy-program/2100-1028... "

Yea, my first thought when I saw this title: "who on earth would pay to have AT&T involved in their home security. May as well just hook up a web cam pointed to your shower and be done with it.

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