Another example is Ring Doorbell's automatic 'opt in' enrollment in 'Amazon Sidewalk' that links your wifi (including Alexa) in a mesh network to all your neighbors' networks. In the words of one cybersecurity expert, "You are LITERALLY relying on your neighbor's IT skills protecting YOUR network from abuse. And tracking. And possible identity theft." Opt in/out here:
https://ring.com/support/articles/nzhv0/Turning-the-Amazon-Sidewalk-Feature-On-or-Off
Did you know that Spectrum TV picks your television ads based on your TV viewing habits? If that seems creepy to you too, just opt out of that and review their other 'sharing' by using their form here:
https://www.spectrum.com/policies/your-privacy-rights-opt-out (Be sure to pick 'Yes' as a current customer to see all the options.)
MARCH UPDATE: Now that Medley property management has moved from ICON to Castle property management, they announced that will be using TownSquare (TownSq) for our HOA community communications. Note that their privacy policy also requires pro-active opt out of sharing personal and advertising information here https://opt-out.townsq.io.
These are just a few examples of the 'gotchas' found in default technology polices.
For this reason, several of us at MedleyMembers.Net recommend that an IT security audit be performed on all personal data retention and sharing policies within the Medley community including website logins, mobile apps, security cameras, etc. to help ensure members' ongoing privacy and advise members of their opt in/out choices. (PS This shouldn't require expensive legal or tech consulting, as we have just demonstrated here.)
Please share this post with your neighbors and friends,
especially since they may be inadvertently sharing their wifi with others! (see Amazon Sidewalk above).
Thanks for reading! Check back each week for new blog posts at www.medleymembers.net/blogs .