HP printers try to send data back to HP about your devices and what you print

Re:HP printers try to send data back to HP about your device... by mindslight on Monday September 16, 2019 @10:18AM (#20984236)

Yes, removing Internet access is always an option (although eventually we might have to physically disconnect wifi antennas or use a Faraday cage...).

I was responding to a comment that was talking about creating Free Software to communicate with the device, specifically the idea of proxying access to the corporate server and modifying the communication, rather than implementing the whole protocol from scratch.

I'd guess the Fitbit protocol is encrypted, from a desire to keep people from cheating their activity reports. If a company wants to spend the development time, there is basically nothing that can be done to prevent a device requiring Internet access on a dumb-pipe all-or-nothing basis.

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Re:HP printers try to send data back to HP about your device... by cmroanirgo on Tuesday September 17, 2019 @09:00PM (#21001571)

Although this comment may seem a bit extreme: I looked at the rubbish that Fitbit installed on my laptop several years ago. I decided to throw my Fitbit out after scrubbing my hard drive of their software. So, although it's fair to assume their software's probably improved since then, I'm not buying.

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Re:HP printers try to send data back to HP about your device... by c0d3rX on Monday September 16, 2019 @12:29PM (#20985760)

Faraday cage for the win. My printer stays offline - period. If something needs printing, I have to sneakerware it. If I'm unable to do that, I rethink whether it really needs printing in the first place :D

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