As long-term readers know, I have little patience, faith, or interest in so-called “smart” technology or the Internet of Things. I’ve heard enough horror stories over the years that I cannot fathom why anyone would voluntarily invite such chaos into one’s home.
A recent example of this is a man – a black man, no less – who found himself shut out of his smart devices for a week over a supposed racist remark.
When Brandon Jackson returned home from work and was unable to enter his smart home, he thought it was because he had been hacked. “I have a smart home, and my primary means of interfacing with all the devices and automations is through Amazon Echo devices via Alexa,” he wrote in a blog post on Medium. “This incident left me with a house full of unresponsive devices, a silent Alexa, and a lot of questions.”
As it turns out, this shutdown was deliberate. Mr. Jackson learned that a delivery driver claimed he heard a racist slur through the smart doorbell – even though no one was home. “I reviewed the footage and confirmed that no such comments had been made,” Jackson wrote. “Instead, the Eufy doorbell had issued an automated response: ‘Excuse me, can I help you?’ The driver, who was walking away and wearing headphones, must have misinterpreted the message. Nevertheless, by the following day, my Amazon account was locked, and all my Echo devices were logged out.”
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Jackson, who is an engineer at Microsoft, said that since most of the neighborhood and its delivery drivers are also black, it was “highly unlikely that we would make such remarks” as the alleged racial slur. Jackson found himself in the unwinnable position of trying to argue truth and logic to a faceless bureaucratic monster (Amazon) that literally ruled his home. It didn’t work, and he found himself locked out of his devices for a week.
This is an example of what can happen when you hand over control to organizations or corporations or government bodies that want to control not just your actions, but your thoughts. Mr. Jackson wasn’t even home, but someone thought he made a racist remark against his own race, and that was enough to punish him.
The information required simply to use new gadgets astounds me. I saw a screen capture (right) recently of a Samsung smart washer’s control panel in which the user was directed to “go to settings and allow permissions for Contacts, Telephone, Location, Camera.” Why must “contacts, telephone, location, camera” be enabled to wash one’s tighty whities? Seriously, why?
What I find extraordinary about the whole Internet of Things is how we voluntarily put our necks in the noose. None of us – with the exception of those with disabilities or other physical limitations – needs “smart” appliances or lights or heating systems or vacuums or any other Internet of Things technology. These things are mere conveniences … until they’re not.
It’s clear that smart technology, at a moment’s notice and without justification, can and will be weaponized against users. My concern, then, is how rapidly smart technology will be weaponized against anyone who doesn’t conform to the approved narrative. How long until we are voiceless and powerless, controlled every bit as strongly as those on the planet Camazotz from “A Wrinkle in Time“?
Every use of every bit of smart technology is being gathered into a gigantic database. That’s fact, not speculation. From a recent Bold article, “A declassified report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) shows the government stockpiles our personal information. Commercial data brokers collect your data voluntarily given (albeit often unknowingly) through social media and other digital platforms. This information can include everything from your home address to your birthday and phone number. The report shows our commercially available information (CAI) could be harmful depending on the purchaser’s intent. … In other words, your personal information is publicly available to anyone who wants to purchase the data. Additionally, the report openly admits that the vast troves of info we willingly forfeit makes the federal government more powerful. And that the significant majority of people don’t understand just how much commercial data reveals about their lives.” [Emphasis added.]
The justified concern is America is headed for an “irreversible surveillance state” – and all because citizens can’t resist that convenient technology that allows their washing machine to install cameras and a home to shut down after a nonexistent racial remark. Financial institutions are already debanking customers whose viewpoints they disagree with (namely, conservatives or religious groups), and this is just the beginning.
I hardly need to mention the historical examples of what it’s like to live in a surveillance state. “Show me the man and I’ll show you the crime” was the famous boast of the ruthless secret police chief in Josef Stalin’s reign of terror in Russia and Eastern Europe, who “bragged that he could prove criminal conduct on anyone, even the innocent.”
Kinda like racist remarks made by a black man who (provably) wasn’t even home at the time.
There is legislation being proposed to limit these abuses, but we all know how ineffective that will be.
The sad thing is, even people (like me) who are technophobes and avoid the Internet of Things at all costs, cannot avoid being surveilled. Aside from the obvious issue of computer internet use, we are all subject to tracking based on facial recognition software, tracking based on behavioral surveillance, tracking based on spending and consumer activities, tracking based on public activities, tracking based on social media activities, tracking based on phone and online activities, tracking based on social network, tracking based on your car, and tracking based on your mail. Have I missed anything?
“The bottom line is this,” concludes Revolver News. “When you give woke companies this kind of unfettered power and control in your home, don’t be surprised when they use it against you. There will be many more stories like this in the future. Having a ‘smart home’ could be the dumbest move you make.”
Preach it, brother.
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