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Re:Scanadu to shut down support for its Scout device and cus... by Spooky23 on Sunday December 18, 2016 @09:31AM (#13205895)
My rule: no cloud service dependent devices >$50.

Exceptions are companies like Apple and maybe Microsoft that are capable of supporting the device for a lifecycle. Obviously Google is out.

Re:Scanadu to shut down support for its Scout device and cus... by Fnoord on Sunday December 18, 2016 @11:09AM (#13206247)
$50 seems like an arbitrary number, not a logical chosen barrier. What about your data, and your privacy? Is that worth anything?

You say you have Apple (and maybe Microsoft) as exception but Microsoft was one of the first to join PRISM program. Apple's in it as well. Apple uses Siri. Do you entrust Apple with your voice data? With your Spotlight searches (or Microsoft, as I saw today that was being used, and I know I never set it up to use Bing cause I don't use Bing)? If you're not from the USA, it'd be stupid to depend on US cloud services ever since the Snowden revelations. Before that as well, but then it was just all theory.

Cloud is sometimes invisible and, well, murky (cloudy) as to . Therein lies a danger. A program like Signal does it right, but that is merely communication. I have no idea what the feasible alternative would be to cloud because something like a mobile phone just isn't powerful enough, and has its own set of privacy and security issues on top of that.

Re:Scanadu to shut down support for its Scout device and cus... by Spooky23 on Sunday December 18, 2016 @11:50AM (#13206424)
$50 is my personal threshold for disposable throwing of money away. $50 is decent dinner out.

I'm from the USA. I don't have any reason to implement an opsec level that would potentially defeat a government inquiry. If there were a targeted effort to get at my stuff, my home lacks the controls to even offer a moderate level of resistance.

I'm more worried about shelling out money for services the vanish.

Re:Scanadu to shut down support for its Scout device and cus... by Fnoord on Sunday December 18, 2016 @01:01PM (#13206773)
> I'm from the USA. [...] > $50 is decent dinner out. [...] > I'm more worried about shelling out money for services the vanish.

Fair enough! How far do you go with this? Open source firmware and the like?

> I'm from the USA. I don't have any reason to implement an opsec level that would potentially defeat a government inquiry. If there were a targeted effort to get at my stuff, my home lacks the controls to even offer a moderate level of resistance.

Oh, I have no issue if the secret service of my country targets someone (including me) specifically. My problem is with mass surveillance, dragnets, and silly attempts to find needles in haystacks. That I would try to avoid, try to not support those by voting with my wallet.

Also, I'd like you to consider the following: it isn't only the secret service or the NSA. The Snowden revelations are just the tip of the iceberg, or the wake up call. There's also the insurance company, the headhunter, data leaks because $cloud_provider can't secure their shit, profiling based on your data, etc.

Re:Scanadu to shut down support for its Scout device and cus... by Spooky23 on Sunday December 18, 2016 @02:16PM (#13207094)
I don't disagree. But the highest risk factors for me, like sharing of health and financial data, are fully out of my control.
Re:Scanadu to shut down support for its Scout device and cus... by manquer on Sunday December 18, 2016 @11:48AM (#13206417)
GP does not seem to be talking about privacy , rather support and availablity of the service
Re:Scanadu to shut down support for its Scout device and cus... by lighthazard on Sunday December 18, 2016 @09:57AM (#13205999)
Why is Google out? Have any of their cloud service devices been put to pasture?
Re:Scanadu to shut down support for its Scout device and cus... by pikzen on Sunday December 18, 2016 @10:27AM (#13206105)
You could consider that Alphabet buying Nest and them shutting down all service was in a way Google stopping operations on that.

But I believe that is mostly related to the unending list of services they have stopped. Code, Reader, or even APIs and libraries they stop without a single warning (cough cough angular v1.x).

Seriously, the list is big. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Discontinued_Google_s...

Re:Scanadu to shut down support for its Scout device and cus... by Spooky23 on Sunday December 18, 2016 @11:44AM (#13206397)
I have no faith in Google's ability to deliver consumer services that aren't part of the core business and are free.

Facebook is eroding that core business, so I expected more belt-tightening in coming years.

Re:Scanadu to shut down support for its Scout device and cus... by stephenc_c_ on Sunday December 18, 2016 @10:24AM (#13206090)
Re:Scanadu to shut down support for its Scout device and cus... by pherq on Sunday December 18, 2016 @10:32AM (#13206124)
Nest remotely bricked Revolv devices a year and a bit after acquiring the company.
Re:Scanadu to shut down support for its Scout device and cus... by CamperBob2 on Sunday December 18, 2016 @04:51PM (#13207873)
Yeah, at least with Microsoft, you know it Plays For Sure(tm).