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Thread: Are you running any smart home devices?

  1. #46
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    Quote Originally Posted by Alan Caro View Post
    George Bokros,

    Just to eliminate the easiest explanation: is there any chance that the remote control ended up on the bed somewhere? I heard about a fellow in California whose cat a couple of times walked on the remote at 3-4AM, I think to try and watch documentaries about mice,fish, and interesting projects using string.

    Otherwise, is your TV by chance a Samsung?

    https://mashable.com/2013/08/02/sams.../#3MdquZXWGkqQ

    Alan
    It's likely something simple. Cat, dog, laying on the bed and rollover / push buttons, maybe your TV has a wakeup timer, etc. If it was due to outside agent like a hacker then you have much bigger problems than a TV turning itself on.

  2. #47
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    An update -
    I have decided to get the Nest 3rd Gen Learning Thermostat, add another Echo Dot, and the Philips HUE Lighting starter kit. The Echo Dot I initially purchased has proven so helpful to me and the entire family that I've ordered another one. In a way, nice tools added to my home for me and the family.
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  3. #48
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    Quote Originally Posted by Pat Barry View Post
    It's likely something simple. Cat, dog, laying on the bed and rollover / push buttons, maybe your TV has a wakeup timer, etc. If it was due to outside agent like a hacker then you have much bigger problems than a TV turning itself on.
    See my earlier post, #43 in this thread
    Last edited by George Bokros; 02-05-2018 at 7:29 PM.
    George

    Making sawdust regularly, occasionally a project is completed.

  4. #49
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    I started to take the dive into home automation. Right now I have two Logitech Harmony hubs, one for the living room and one for the master bedroom. These allow me to pair all devices for entertainment to my iPhone as well as my Echo Dots. I can control my tvs with voice commands now. I also have a smart thermostat paired to my phone and echo as well. Next up will be lighting.

  5. #50
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    Quote Originally Posted by George Bokros View Post
    As I said in post #43 the remote was on the TV cabinet and we do not have a cat that could have climbed onto the cabinet. The TV does not have a turn on timer only a turn off timer. No other device including the computer that is on 24/7 has been bothered. Since I took it off the WiFi it has not done it again and it has never done in during the day.
    Is it possible someone is a sleepwalker? they can do some crazy things - turning on a TV might be the least.

    Note: last night during the super bowl, they came back from commercial and my announcers were Spanish. Not sure how that happened. The TV itself isn't on wifi but the chromecast device is. Could something cause that similar to your tv turning itself on? I had to shut it off and turn it back on with the remote for it to go back to Al and Chris.

  6. #51
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    Quote Originally Posted by Pat Barry View Post
    Is it possible someone is a sleepwalker? they can do some crazy things - turning on a TV might be the least.
    Neither my wife nor I are sleepwalkers.
    George

    Making sawdust regularly, occasionally a project is completed.

  7. #52
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    Quote Originally Posted by George Bokros View Post
    I have three televisions in my home. All three WERE on my home WiFi network. The newest one in our master bedroom turned on by itself at 4:00 a.m. one day, how did that happen??? I removed that one from my WiFi. Since I removed it from my WiFi network it has never turned on by itself again. No other device in my home including a computer that is on all the time and the other two televisions have ever had an issue with intrusion. Puzzling to me!!

    How did this television turn itself on and never happen again after removing it from my WiFi?
    Since it was at 4:00 am, and stopped after disconnecting from netwwork it was probably a "smart" factory programmed update.

    We had some ghosts also.
    We would do a system shutdown of all our video and components then leave that part of our house, only to hear the Toshiba TV a few minutes later. We would turn it off, it would come back on... off-on.....

    It was maybe my wife's phone,...... we think. We had enabled the HDMI-CEC (HDMI-CEC”, short for HDMI Consumer Electronics Control, is an HDMI feature many TVs and peripherals have. Source -https://www.howtogeek.com/207186/how-to-enable-hdmi-cec-on-your-tv-and-why-you-should/).

    She had a TV remote app and we have a Amazon Fire Stick in the TV. One of them was turning it back on. We disabled CEC. She can no longer use her phone as a TV remote and the fire stick can no longer switch inputs, we have to use the TV factory remote for those functions; but, it stays off when we turn it off.
    Last edited by Charlie Velasquez; 02-06-2018 at 11:46 PM.
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  8. #53
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    Don't be surprised if you and your wife are sitting around talking about buying a new couch and then start getting pop up ads on the internet from furniture stores. (Its a joke)

    Quote Originally Posted by Dennis Peacock View Post
    An update -
    I have decided to get the Nest 3rd Gen Learning Thermostat, add another Echo Dot, and the Philips HUE Lighting starter kit. The Echo Dot I initially purchased has proven so helpful to me and the entire family that I've ordered another one. In a way, nice tools added to my home for me and the family.

  9. #54
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    Quote Originally Posted by Art Mann View Post
    Don't be surprised if you and your wife are sitting around talking about buying a new couch and then start getting pop up ads on the internet from furniture stores. (Its a joke)
    Probably just a matter of time..
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  10. #55
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    Lots of good information here. One thing I didn't see mentioned is that all of these devices connect to the company servers in order to store and analyze data. This means that information about your smart devices - the settings, usage information, metadata such as time/date/location/connection method/IP addresses/etc. are stored and probably analyzed in some way by the company. Advertisers would love to have this information and are willing to pay for it. Do you believe that a company wouldn't be tempted to sell information about when you're home and when you're not, or your cooling/heating/lighting/music/tv preferences to advertisers? Or that Amazon, Google, Apple, etc. are so interested in putting listening/watching devices in your home just to sell you soap and music downloads? It's not necessarily the government or hackers who might use the devices to listen in - it's the companies themselves. Like smartphones, these devices are designed from the ground up to gather information about you which can be analyzed and sold (and subpoenaed by the government and stolen by hackers). That's where the money is. The devices are loss-leaders in many cases.

    This is especially true for devices that allow remote connections (e.g. from your smartphone). The connection to the device is not direct, as you might assume, but rather goes through the company's servers and gives the company access to a whole range of new information (your device's various identifying characteristics, its location, etc.). I think this is especially problematic for home security services since a hacker could have easy access to the status of your security system and your location (e.g. you're not home and won't be anytime soon because you're at Disneyworld). Remember that the company's firewalls or other security measures won't do any good if your phone is compromised. Based on what many said above, people have way too much faith in firewalls, malware protection, and other security measures.

    One partial solution, if you want some semblance of a smart home, is to host your own server. Travis mentioned a company called Synology that sells devices that allow this cheaply(ish) and easily. It's not exactly plug-n-play but it's about as simple as it can be. QNAP is another company that makes a similar product, and I'm sure there must be more as well. Synology has mobile apps that connect directly to your device - no intermediary - allowing you to connect cameras and other devices and manage them remotely. You can also replicate many of the services you get for "free" from Google, Apple, Microsoft, Yahoo, etc. like email, cloud file storage, calendar, music/photo/video library, VPN, etc. The difference is you control access and these companies aren't scanning your private information for things they can sell. You also decide whether or not your smart devices have access to the internet and, therefore, whether they can send information back to their manufacturer. (BTW I don't have any affiliation with these companies or any other technology companies)

    I know that this sounds paranoid but read the terms of service for any of these devices or services and see if you really agree to what's in them. You should also find a source of information you trust and read up on privacy issues. I really like the following two sources, but there are many others:

    The Electronic Frontier Foundation
    Krebs on Security

    I know many people who don't care if their information is sold, which is fine. My thing is: know what you're getting into before giving access to your home.

    Edit: added a couple of sentences for clarity.
    Last edited by Brian W Evans; 02-07-2018 at 2:59 PM.


  11. #56
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    Quote Originally Posted by Brian W Evans View Post
    Lots of good information here. One thing I didn't see mentioned is that all of these devices connect to the company servers in order to store and analyze data. This means that information about your smart devices - the settings, usage information, metadata such as time/date/location/connection method/IP addresses/etc. are stored and probably analyzed in some way by the company. Advertisers would love to have this information and are willing to pay for it. Do you believe that a company wouldn't be tempted to sell information about when you're home and when you're not, or your cooling/heating/lighting/music/tv preferences to advertisers? Or that Amazon, Google, Apple, etc. are so interested in putting listening/watching devices in your home at ridiculously low prices because they make money on the devices? It's not necessarily the government or hackers who might use the devices to listen in - it's the companies themselves. Like smartphones, these devices are designed from the ground up to gather information about you which can be analyzed and sold (and subpoenaed by the government and stolen by hackers). That's where the money is. The devices are loss-leaders in many cases.

    One solution, if you want some semblance of a smart home, is to host your own server. Travis mentioned a company called Synology that sells devices that allow this cheaply(ish) and easily. It's not exactly plug-n-play but it's about as simple as it can be. QNAP is another company that makes a similar product, and I'm sure there must be more as well. Synology has mobile apps that connect directly to your device - no intermediary - allowing you to connect cameras and other devices and manage them remotely. You can also replicate many of the services you get for "free" from Google, Apple, Microsoft, Yahoo, etc. like email, cloud file storage, calendar, music/photo/video library, VPN, etc. The difference is you control access and these companies aren't scanning your private information for things they can sell. (BTW I don't have any affiliation with these companies or any other technology companies)

    I know that this sounds paranoid but read the terms of service for any of these devices or services and see if you really agree to what's in them. You should also find a source of information you trust and read up on privacy issues. I really like the following two sources, but there are many others:

    The Electronic Frontier Foundation
    Krebs on Security

    I know many people who don't care if their information is sold, which is fine. My thing is: know what you're getting into before giving access to your home.
    I agreed to whatever the terms of service were. If there was a problem with the terms some bunch of lawyers would have been all over it long ago. I feel in the safety of the masses.

  12. #57
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    Quote Originally Posted by Pat Barry View Post
    I agreed to whatever the terms of service were. If there was a problem with the terms some bunch of lawyers would have been all over it long ago. I feel in the safety of the masses.
    Many people simply don't care if these companies collect all of this information. There's nothing illegal about it if you agree to it in advance, so no opportunity for lawyers to get involved.

    I am a person who values my privacy more than many others (posting on SMC excepted, I guess) and I don't agree to that kind of data collection. So, I spend a lot of time trying to find ways to keep my information private. If you are of the "I have nothing to hide" persuasion and you're willing to trade access to personal information in exchange for convenience, more power to you. I just feel strongly that people should be aware.


  13. #58
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    Quote Originally Posted by Charlie Velasquez View Post
    Since it was at 4:00 am, and stopped after disconnecting from netwwork it was probably a "smart" factory programmed update.

    We had some ghosts also.
    We would do a system shutdown of all our video and components then leave that part of our house, only to hear the Toshiba TV a few minutes later. We would turn it off, it would come back on... off-on.....

    It was maybe my wife's phone,...... we think. We had enabled the HDMI-CEC (HDMI-CEC”, short for HDMI Consumer Electronics Control, is an HDMI feature many TVs and peripherals have. Source -https://www.howtogeek.com/207186/how-to-enable-hdmi-cec-on-your-tv-and-why-you-should/).

    She had a TV remote app and we have a Amazon Fire Stick in the TV. One of them was turning it back on. We disabled CEC. She can no longer use her phone as a TV remote and the fire stick can no longer switch inputs, we have to use the TV factory remote for those functions; but, it stays off when we turn it off.
    I have seen TV's and other electronic devices turn on by themselves. I have also seen a 220V tablesaw cut on by itself one time, but it was not connected to the internet or wifi.

    I personally don't think there is any way to be totally protected. Keeping up with what you have on your network and what and how it communicates internally and externally is not an insignificant endeavor. The fact that we have devices that communicate and link up outwards automatically is another hole...
    Last edited by Travis Porter; 02-07-2018 at 4:44 PM.

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