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Nest Smoke Alarm Functionality Disabled Remotely

posted by janrinok on Saturday April 05 2014, @02:09AM   Printer-friendly
from the so-you-think-you-have-protection-but-you-do-not dept.

lennier writes:

The New York Times is reporting that Nest Labs have halted sales of the Nest Protect smoke alarm due to a concern that the 'temporarily silence alarm' feature could be activated too easily by users. But more worrying, and only briefly skimmed over in the article, is the report that Nest remotely accessed already installed Nest Protect alarms to disable this misfeature.

It seems like this sets a very dangerous precedent. A smoke alarm has life-critical functionality; this is not something that a manufacturer should even be able to modify in real time over the Internet. Are we comfortable with this level of control over critical safety infrastructure resting in a software company's hands? Even if you are, what about the potential for criminals and intelligence agencies to do the same thing?

 
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  • (Score: 1) by Subsentient on Saturday April 05 2014, @02:43AM

    by Subsentient (1111) on Saturday April 05 2014, @02:43AM (#26505) Homepage Journal

    I agree with Nest's decision, but this does however provide a disturbing glimpse into the techno-dystopia I have been warning people about for years.

    --
    "It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." -Jiddu Krishnamurti

  • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Saturday April 05 2014, @06:06AM

    by aristarchus (2645) on Saturday April 05 2014, @06:06AM (#26559) Journal

    Thank you for your warnings of a techno-dystopia. I would like to subscribe to your newsletter. (Hey, Mom! I found a meme! Can we keep it?)

    • (Score: 2, Funny) by Subsentient on Saturday April 05 2014, @06:39AM

      by Subsentient (1111) on Saturday April 05 2014, @06:39AM (#26565) Homepage Journal

      No son, it smells of pickles.

      --
      "It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." -Jiddu Krishnamurti

      • (Score: 3, Funny) by aristarchus on Saturday April 05 2014, @07:19AM

        by aristarchus (2645) on Saturday April 05 2014, @07:19AM (#26577) Journal

        Fair enough. (But if I find another one, like how in Soviet Russia, well, never mind).