Sharing your internet connection with strangers?
What could possibly go wrong?
Key Takeaways
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On June 8, Amazon will switch onSidewalk.
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Sidewalk is Amazons attempt to build an instant mesh data pipe.
But this is Amazon, so people are skeptical.
Amazon says that Sidewalk uses only a small amount of your internet bandwidthjust 80Kbps.
Amazon
Thats tiny, so you should see no speed impact.
Maximum data use is also capped at 500MB.
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The idea is that this creates a web link for other Amazon devices.
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The advantages for Amazon are many.
Think of the smart city, but on steroids."
But thats not whats worrying people.
Bad Actor
Amazon has earned a reputation as a bad steward of your data.
For instance, it haspartnered with police departmentstoshare recordings from your Ring security cameraswithout asking you for permission.
“The cynical side of me says this is solely about data harvesting and sharing,” says Costa.
“Amazon connects the accounts of people you interact with frequently when it comes to advertising you things.
This gives them a larger pool of data for that.”
…Articles run frequently about the kind of information the Echo is harvesting from users.
Sidewalk also feels like it will be more connected and pervasive.
That kind of stealthy launch doesnt sound like something Amazon is proud to announce.
Compare this to Prime Day, which is hard to avoid once Amazons publicity machine kicks in.
Its almost as if Amazon wanted to activate this without anyone noticing.
Compare this to Apples recent AirTags announcement.
Thats because people trust Apple.
If Amazon makes a mistake, we assume it was really the secret plan all along.
You might not want your indoor surveillance cameras connected all the time.
Another possibility is that you may violate your internet service agreement by sharing your connection with others.
In the end, however, the main downside is that we just dont trust Amazon.
to do what’s right with our data.
