[Software] Amazon devices will soon share your internet with the neighbourhood: here's how to switch it off

[The GodFather]

 

 

From June 8 if you live in the US, your Amazon devices will freely connect to other devices in your vicinity, sharing part of your internet connection with your neighbours automatically.

Amazon has been slowly expanding methods to keep customers’ devices connected to the internet since last year, with a new service called Sidewalk that’s being built into Amazon’s wide-ranging devices, from the Echo Dot, to the Ring surveillance product line.

This feature from Amazon automatically opts you in to use part of your Wi-Fi to connect to nearby devices that aren’t yours, such as a neighbour.

However, this has led to growing privacy concerns about what information will be shared by devices that use this feature.

What is Amazon Sidewalk?
This is a shared network that connects to your Wi-Fi home network, and in turn, connects to other smart devices around your home. If your connection switches off, perhaps because of a fault or it’s switched off at the mains, it will connect to other Amazon devices in the area to keep your devices working, using other people’s internet connections.

The devices that have Amazon Sidewalk are listed here, but it ranges from the Echo Dot line, to the Echo Show and the Ring Spotlight Camera lines.

Sidewalk is essentially a way of covering an area bigger than your home, and if it’s able to connect to your neighbors' network, the area can increase so much that it could cover an even wider area.

From a privacy standpoint it opts-in your devices automatically from June 8, and while the company has published a white paper explaining how Sidewalk shares your data when it connects to other devices that aren’t your own, it’s still a cause for concern. 

How to disable Amazon Sidewalk
Fortunately, there is a way for the service to be switched off before June 8. Open the Alexa app on your smart device, and select  the ‘More’ option. Then, go to Settings > Account Settings > Amazon Sidewalk.

Turn this off and your devices will only connect to the other smart products you have around your home.

Get a head start on Prime Day 2021 deals

Ever since Google’s Android operating system debuted back in 2010, it’s allowed other vendors to create their own take on it, from smartphones to tablets.

Amazon has done precisely that with FireOS, curating a look that makes it known that you’re in Amazon’s world.

It even appeared in the much-maligned Amazon Fire Phone back in 2014, which only lasted for a year before it was cancelled.

However, the similarities between FireOS and Android are too many to count, but there are some use cases that could make you wonder if a Fire device could work in your household.

Differences with Android
FireOS first appeared in 2012 with the Kindle Fire tablet, as a means to rival Apple’s iPad mini. Since then it split into different versions, appearing on devices such as the Fire TV, the Echo Show and Fire tablets. However, Amazon has made sure to keep the user interface and the color scheme to match its branding, with orange abound when you access the settings app, or browse the apps installed on your Fire tablet.

Instead of Google’s Play Store, you access the Amazon App Store instead. This features a wide variety of apps, but it's also accessible from Amazon’s own website. This way, if you see an app you like there, you only have to purchase it and it will download directly to your Amazon Fire device. It’s a much easier way for Amazon to manage what apps are available for the Fire line.

But the more you delve deeper into FireOS, the more you may find familiarity, especially if you have an Android phone. You can avoid Amazon’s gatekeeping and use alternative third-party apps instead, enabling features such as mouse support and even the ability to run games and movies that aren’t present on Amazon’s store.