Wiim data upload?

[waldo]

Maybe the WiiM mic is recording room audio and uploading it to your favorite nemesis, in high-def (until someone comes along with a better conspiracy theory).

 

[BowsAndArrows]

Maybe the WiiM mic is recording room audio and uploading it to your favorite nemesis, in high-def (until someone comes along with a better conspiracy theory).

hey i heard beff jezos was an early investor in WiiM - no wonder they keep pushing for using alexa etc

 

[DRC]

Since you are all paranoid, perhaps you should get a Firewalla (or similar) and then you could see where the uploads are going. Mainly Google in my case.

 

[BowsAndArrows]

relax, we're just joking around.. and you can call us crazy or whatever - but data collection and reselling to advertisers etc is basically the fundamental business model of almost every contemporary tech company... there's no way around it, and unfortunately consumers have become used to this "freemium" model where they themselves are the product being sold to advertisers essentially.

it's a major reason why i would prefer it if companies just charged a (fair) fee for their software or services in a transparent way. wiim included. instead of going at it in an unsustainable way - only charging (exorbitant prices) for hardware like sonos. or asking for ridiculous sums just for software (roon). there is a middle ground i think where you are making a fair profit margin on both. none of this is to say that wiim's pace of development and/or quality of software is below par at all - just throwing ideas out there.

+ yeh i have pfsense at home so when i have time i'll try investigate what data is being sent and where...

 

[WiiM Support]

Hi Team,

We understand and respect your concerns about privacy. Rest assured, your privacy is of utmost importance to us as well.

Traffic when the device is not in use
The devices leverage the robust Amazon AWS IoT server that provides the Over-The-Air updates. There are small communication packets that keep the IoT connection between your device and server.

No Account Creation
Using WiiM products is designed to be as hassle-free as possible. You are not required to create an account with us using your personal information. We do not collect or store any personal data from our users.

Music Account Integration
When you choose to log in to your music account through our app, please be assured that your information is strictly confined to the app and the music service providers. WiiM does not have access to or store your music account details.

Our Commitment to Transparency
Your trust in WiiM is paramount, and we are dedicated to upholding it through transparency. We are committed to being as open as possible about our processes and the measures we take to protect your privacy.

We are continually working to enhance our privacy policies and practices to ensure that you can enjoy our products with confidence. If you have any questions or require further information, please feel free to reach out. We are here to address your concerns and provide the support you need.

Thank you for choosing WiiM and entrusting us with your privacy.

 

[hoohoohoo]

It will be checking for firmware updates. Alexa and Google assistant may be active

Looking through DNS queries on my local DNS server, it checks for internet time (ntp), looks for Alexa and Google services, looks for firmware updates (ota.linkplay.com), checks that AWS is healthy (firehose.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/), does internet connectivity checks, checks in with media services (Spotify, Pandora, etc) and so on.

I didn't bother to capture IP traffic using tcpdump and look at the packet payloads in Wireshark but that could be done too.

 

[Brantome]

Looking through DNS queries on my local DNS server, it checks for internet time (ntp), looks for Alexa and Google services, looks for firmware updates (ota.linkplay.com), checks that AWS is healthy (firehose.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/), does internet connectivity checks, checks in with media services (Spotify, Pandora, etc) and so on.

I didn't bother to capture IP traffic using tcpdump and look at the packet payloads in Wireshark but that could be done too.

So pretty much what WiiM said. Guess I can put the black gooey stuff away

 

[Brantome]

Yours is black?

Post in thread 'WiiM and user privacy'
https://forum.wiimhome.com/threads/wiim-and-user-privacy.1376/post-56615

 

[Hollywood]

data collection and reselling to advertisers etc is basically the fundamental business model of almost every contemporary tech company... there's no way around it, and unfortunately consumers have become used to this "freemium" model where they themselves are the product being sold to advertisers essentially.

Spot on. Using television as an example, the company may collect anonymous data of what is being viewed to help with decisions for future programming and I am ok with that. They may also collect data to build a profile about me. I am not ok with that. Disconnecting a device from the internet usually disables other features, so that is not an option.

A lot of forum members have real privacy concerns with any devices connected to the internet, especially if the device has a camera or microphone. Seeing how some of the targeted advertising is relevant is scary. Often I need to complete my google search and a drop down shows several suggestions to complete. Many times there will be 10 or more suggestions and what I was going to type is the first or second choice.

We hope companies act responsible but for the most part we can't be sure. I like the people that monitor what leaves their router, but that skill level is more then most of us have. I have several WiiM Pros and they are an excellent product. Their interest in making their device better, fixing bugs, and adding new features tells me the product is the focus, not listening or spying. But there are a LOT of smart devices in our homes connected to the internet with cameras or mics. I'm concerned.

 

[DRC]

I'm concerned.

What have you done about your concern? You can block ads and trackers. I have a Firewalla and use ControlD DNS, which is free: https://controld.com/free-dns
For information, Firewalla is not blocking anything from my Wiim Pro.

 

[Hollywood]

What have you done about your concern? You can block ads and trackers. I have a Firewalla and use ControlD DNS, which is free: https://controld.com/free-dns

I've done much of the type of stuff you mentioned and am always looking for new ideas. Sadly many privacy settings get overwritten when Windows get certain updates. It's like they are trying to wear us down. I sometimes use a VPN but many websites will not accept a connection from a VPN.

Windows offers a lot of security, but we allow software to be installed and who knows when some program will install a keylogger to collect logons and passwords disguised as some other useful program? Banks seem to trust computers and current browsers but who knows if/when our passwords will get collected by some means we allowed or not.

I use Chrome for Facebook and Firefox for all other browsing, but Facebook targeted ads are definitely gathered from my Firefox usage. My bank offers to consolidate all of my financial website to one logon. Google offers to backup your contacts, for free. Most of these "features" could be or are used to build our personal profiles. Most of us go through great lengths to protect our banking password, but don't protect our email password as much which could be used to allow a password change.

I would get a second PC just for banking if I thought it would help, but my main PC needs access to my email so I can't see a perfect solution.

Anyway, computers are no longer novelties for fun and learning. We count on them to run smart devices and store personal stuff like documents and financial, AND we use them for entertainment and to try new stuff. I guess it will always be an ongoing quest to protect ourselves as best we can, and I suspect some of will still be victims.

 

[BowsAndArrows]

Yeh I do a lot of the same to improve privacy, block ads and just to mitigate mass collection of tracking data. I use nextdns and pfsense at home. And obviously ad blockers on every browser, mobile device etc.
Also for windows - O&O Shutup 10 is good. I run that every time after a major windows update.

Obviously the systems that meta and google etc use to track us and create profiles are extremely sophisticated - so much of this is probably bypassed.

Another cool method is using obfuscation/garbage insertion. A favourite of mine is the "trackmenot" Firefox extension that performs random Google, Bing and Yahoo searches in the background. Has cool features like clicking on links and choosing to allow Dept of Homeland Security keywords of interest!! I have no filters on

All this hopefully makes the profile the ad companies have on me to be inaccurate

Considered firewalla in the past. Have you had good experience with their hardware and software?

 

[Brantome]

All this hopefully makes the profile the ad companies have on me to be inaccurate

So you get ads even more irrelevant than those of us who don’t go to that extent?

Tbh, I think you’re fighting a losing battle - big data probably knows more about us than we mere mortals can begin to comprehend…

 

[taube Taube]

 

[taube Taube]

big data probably knows more about us

Big data stores a lot of data, but they can't to know. You just don't have to get to the point where certain people are interested in you.

 

[BowsAndArrows]

So you get ads even more irrelevant than those of us who don’t go to that extent?

Tbh, I think you’re fighting a losing battle - big data probably knows more about us than we mere mortals can begin to comprehend…

Yes that's exactly it. The other day I was getting tampon ads! What a slam dunk. The system really works

 

[Balthazar B]

Yes that's exactly it. The other day I was getting tampon ads! What a slam dunk. The system really works

Depends on whether the ads were the POV kind or not...