Designing for privacy just isn’t in Google’s DNA. They’re an advertising company.
Yes they are an advertising placement company who is also concerned with protecting users from scams and phishing, better internet safety, blocking 3rd party access to your private information that you did not explicitly approve, and the security systems, IoT devices, and cloud storage they provide. Those things can live in harmony, and are not mutually exclusive simply because of ads connected to an anonymized and resettable Advertising ID Number.
If targeted ads using Advertising ID Numbers were so privacy intrusive do you honestly believe Apple would be dipping their toes in those waters?
If this had somehow happened to an Apple affiliated program the tech press would be out of their minds. There would be 6 o’clock news stories, mass hysteria.
I bet the Endgadget & The Verge editorial teams are stroking their keyboards now just dreaming about this possibility.
There are a few IoT devices out there that are quite secure like the RING Doorbell.
Does the Ring thing phone home or need an external network connection of any kind? What happens if RING goes bust? Will your door refuse to open? etc etc etc
Sorry but not even Homekit is coming into my home.
Call me a luddite if you wish but I'm one of those people who really cares about their privacy.
Security and privacy is all about trust and who you can put it in. Technology is just the tool and can be used rightfully or wrongfully, it still boils down to who you trust. IoT devices in general are some of the most insecure devices on the market because they want to rush them to market and security just hasn’t been sexy. Even homekit enable devices could fall into this trap... the homekit protocol may be using industry standard encryption, but the device makers themselves may not secure their devices very well. What if ssh was left open with default passwords? What if there were exposed ports on the device? Homekit has no control over this. These devices could make remote requests to phone home outside of homekit without your knowledge. What do you have to alert you if this fact? It boils down to trust (even encryption requires trust that the algorithms don’t have a flaw, backdoor, etc... we trust the experts in this regard) I trust Apple and I trust their protocols; I do not trust IoT or even just homekit enabled devices. I do enjoy their conveniences however; i have had enough network training (CCNA) and proper gear to setup my home network such that these devices are segregated on essentially their own private network with no internet access. The only device allowed to bridge my networks is the Apple TV, which allows the homekit requests in and out. I’d like to think this is secure, but even this requires trust in Apple, in my router vendor, my WAP vendor, my modem vendor (end of day everything passes through it). I probably don’t have the average setup, and it may break at some point and it’s not with the hassle to most to have the convenience in a sandbox of sorts with only one way in or out.
all this to say your distrust is not unwarranted, but there are things you can do to mitigate it and to have a better peace of mind while enjoying the convenience. It all comes down to what/who you want to trust and how much time and money you want to spend to set something up that you can be confident with and alleviate concerns of personal data being leaked.
Side note, I’ve always hated the term IoT, just don’t have a better general name for these stupid devices.
In regards to my previous post I would ideally want all of these devices on their own physical network only accessible through a vpn device, but that would severely inhibit the convenience factor and score low on the Wife Approval Factor. It would also make the Apple TV not super useful for streaming. In either setup, deploying updates to the devices can sometimes be a hassle, if you’re wondering.
i still try to only get IoT devices I could “trust” even if they are segregated... so these cameras are right out or anything from google for that matter.
Comments
If targeted ads using Advertising ID Numbers were so privacy intrusive do you honestly believe Apple would be dipping their toes in those waters?
I bet the Endgadget & The Verge editorial teams are stroking their keyboards now just dreaming about this possibility.
all this to say your distrust is not unwarranted, but there are things you can do to mitigate it and to have a better peace of mind while enjoying the convenience. It all comes down to what/who you want to trust and how much time and money you want to spend to set something up that you can be confident with and alleviate concerns of personal data being leaked.
Side note, I’ve always hated the term IoT, just don’t have a better general name for these stupid devices.
i still try to only get IoT devices I could “trust” even if they are segregated... so these cameras are right out or anything from google for that matter.