Mainstream tech advice treats cheap Wi-Fi smart plugs as harmless convenience, totally glossing over how much telemetry leaks out to overseas cloud servers by default.
Expecting casual users to set up VLANs and firewall drop rules just to stop a £10 light bulb from phoning home is a bit of a joke.
True privacy means local control without corporate middlemen.
Original content by The Unknown Universe, written by a human and not AI generated!
A few years ago I got some smart bulbs and plugs and wasn’t really aware about any of this and privacy didn’t even cross my mind
Some of us do care when we find out, but maybe caring starts you down a path of no longer being a “casual user”
All my WiFi smart devices are now on a VLAN with no internet access and controlled locally by Home Assistant through with local Tuya integration
I too, many years ago now started my smart home journey with cheap Tuya devices and didn’t know any better. The more I used Home Assistant the further I got down the rabbit hole and learnt about privacy. Now I am a privacy advocate and have a dedicated blog 🤓
You kinda prove my point. Those who care will sell their bulbs or learn vlans. Everyone else won’t.