Crossposted from https://infosec.pub/post/52518361
The TV world has been a pot of controversy thanks to a two-hour-and-15-minute video from Gamers Nexus claiming LG TVs are nefariously spying on everything you do. They can record and store audio even when they seem to be off, track everything you watch, and could even be hacked remotely and turned into covert surveillance […]
Personally I have a smart litter box triggering an exhaust fan for 10 minutes every time it cycles.
My A/C turns off if you leave the patio door open for a couple minutes.
I have a light upstairs that I turn red when I’m in an important meeting, like an On Air button.
The foyer light turns on when you open the front door at night.
There are useful things to be done, and most of my info doesn’t leave the house.
None of these use cases require modern “smart” things.
Sure, you can tie a string to one end, and, uh…
Sensors, timers, and other tons of non-ip networked solutions exist. I have lights that automatically turn on with bulb sensors and it does not require that they be IP networked with each other. Your red light could be wirelessly triggered on a lamp in another room if you wanted without IP networked devices. Many of the “dumb”, working solutions for these problems are cheaper and less complicated than using their networked equivalents.
I have motion sensing, magnetically attached wireless lights that turn on when I go down the stairs. I even have things that can use a single light switch to trigger multiple lamps without rewiring that required zero IP networking.
There are wireless light switches that have no battery because the switch sends a signal using the power from the force exerted on it. There are many types of automation that do not require IP networks.