Amazon Sidewalk Will be Enabled by Default on Echo Devices
upstart writes in with an IRC submission:
Amazon Sidewalk will be enabled by default on Echo devices:
Last year, Amazon announced Sidewalk, a shared network designed to keep your smart devices connected beyond the reach of the typical WiFi router. In order to do that, it'll utilize certain devices as "Sidewalk Bridge" connections, such as Ring cameras and Echo products. Sidewalk isn't live just yet, but the company has started informing customers last week that existing Echo devices will have this Sidewalk connectivity enabled by default. Amazon does note, however, that you can choose to opt out. And if you do so now, you can turn it off before Sidewalk goes live.
[...] These Bridge devices share a small portion of your internet bandwidth which is pooled together to provide these services to you and your neighbors."
The company has attempted to address privacy concerns by saying that all data has multiple layers of encryption and that neighbors who pool their bandwidth together can't view data from each other's devices. If that still doesn't allay your fears, you can follow the instructions above (or in the screenshotted email below) to opt out of Sidewalk altogether.
Read more of this story at SoylentNews.