On 8th of June this year Amazon are turning on Sidewalk in the US INITIALLY. Echos & Rings etc have it built in but not yet enabled. What does it do?
Amazon PDF of Whitepaper on it
Why get worried?
Well your devices become Transmitters when it is enabled, linking to other Sidewalk enabled devices to build a WiFi network sharing data that helps you open your doors if using the Ring door system from a couple of Kms away, turn your Music on or off or your lights or let Amazon know where to drop the parcel off.
Want to disable it, from the AskWoody newsletter
"Before you set up any magic acts such as that, ask yourself two questions:
- Do I really need the 915 MHz frequency to control my devices remotely?
- Am I sure hackers will discover no security flaws to control my devices?
If your answer is “no” to both questions, it’s easy to disable the Sidewalk aspect of your Amazon black boxes prior to June 8 (if you know the secret). Every app is different, but here are some general rules of thumb:
- If you have an Echo device, use your Alexa app to open the Settings window. Change your Amazon Sidewalk preferences there.
- If you have a Ring device, go to the Control Center in the Ring app or website, and then change the Amazon Sidewalk preferences.
- If you’ve linked your Ring and Amazon accounts, changing your Sidewalk preferences using either Alexa or your Ring app will affect all of your compatible Echo and Ring devices."
