'Smart' Garage Door Blocked By Not-So-Smart Inventor

[mosaix]

Garadget faces backlash after locking out irate user - BBC News

The maker of an internet-enabled garage door device is facing a backlash after blocking its use by a customer who had complained about the tech.

The owner had written negative comments about Garadget's kit on both Amazon and the start-up's own site after having problems with its app.

I sometimes think back to mistakes I made in my working life but I never did anything as daft as that.

 

[tinkerdan]

This is the exact argument for not having anything in the house that is connected to the internet do anything important enough to have an affect on your life and livelihood. Every thing on the internet has the capacity for 'wild west' syndrome and allowing the person 'in charge' to deny any user access for any reason at any time and to basically drop services or even suddenly ransom them at any time.

Look at how cable television uprooted all the home antenna's and then became the autocrat of media services (basically dictating how we receive their services and how much we pay and now (in the us) they will allow them to sell our use history without having to pay us royalty for that information).

The same thing happens with everything internet.

However there will always be those who are willing to give up their freedom and give some random ISP run of their house just to have the next gadget they put out there.

Frankly it's refreshing to see the top dog being transparent about the reality of their services.

 

[AlexH]

I agree @tinkerdan. Technology that becomes so advanced we rely on it will be the downfall of the human race (or a country/city or few) in my opinion - just like some of the great civilisations of the past.

 

[Graymalkin]

That's hilarious. And that was under human agency. There was something in the news about two Facebook chatbots 'talking' to each other until they were shut down ...
The internet of things to come. One day its locking someone out their garage, next it's Alexa with tourettes and then Skynet. I'll stick to tinfoil.

 

[Foxbat]

How long will it be before somebody hacks into Alexa and sticks in a virus causing every single owner of the device to suddenly order a year's supply of Spam?

 

[Overread]

There are a lot of people who wind up running businesses who have very few business or marketing or pr skills to their name. This is one of those examples where the manager has few PR skills not internet experience to know that the proper reaction is to either respond in a positive manner to the criticism (ergo resolve the issue); offer a refund or just ignore it. One bad review isn't going to tank any product when its from a random person (unless it points out its super dangerous) and the review could be edited or fairly removed on the basis of language alone - no need to start blocking the users access to the software.

To me that latter part is worrying as it shows the owner of the software can monitor the direct individual use of each user - which is a concern for any product that would be linked to basic home security when such a direct view isn't part of the deal (ergo this isn't a home monitoring service, its a simple door unlocker which one would not expect the software owner to be able to control directly).

 

[Vertigo]

I confess I would not want something that gives access to my property being controlled through the internet; not a good idea to my way of thinking. Don't forget most garages have a door giving direct access to the house. Whilst this door might be locked access to the garage gives a nice hidden location from which to force said door.

 

[Overread]

Thing is there's loads of these start up companies doing these home security and monitoring services. Lots of "check your doors/view security feed/front door feed/windows etc... There's even apps for controlling your heating and I bet lots more services will steadily be added (I can see reptile keepers wanting a home monitoring station to let them adjust humidity or temperature at a whim). It will eventually get to a point where most household appliances can run through the internet; even if you're there in the house you'd likely turn on the auto hoover through your phone.

Indeed the phone will, steadily, become the magical wand of the future that controls all of your house. Dropping it down the toilet or running it over or losing it will suddenly not just be a pain but a major issue!

Of course all this tech is attached to price and it will be a long while before its all what we'd consider standard and some might never adapt (those automatic hoovers are great, but not as fast as a person nor can they do all the nooks and crannies that you can manually ).

 

[Vertigo]

Thing is there's loads of these start up companies doing these home security and monitoring services. Lots of "check your doors/view security feed/front door feed/windows etc... There's even apps for controlling your heating and I bet lots more services will steadily be added (I can see reptile keepers wanting a home monitoring station to let them adjust humidity or temperature at a whim). It will eventually get to a point where most household appliances can run through the internet; even if you're there in the house you'd likely turn on the auto hoover through your phone.

Indeed the phone will, steadily, become the magical wand of the future that controls all of your house. Dropping it down the toilet or running it over or losing it will suddenly not just be a pain but a major issue!

Of course all this tech is attached to price and it will be a long while before its all what we'd consider standard and some might never adapt (those automatic hoovers are great, but not as fast as a person nor can they do all the nooks and crannies that you can manually ).

I don't mind hoovers and heating and such like but apps giving access to a locked property via the internet - that's just begging to be hacked.

 

[Overread]

Yeah, esp when a local bluetooth remote in your phone would likely work just as well for controlling the garage door - you really only need it to open and shut when you are present. There's really no time saving in having it open up closer than bluetooth range.

 

[Ursa major]

I don't mind hoovers and heating and such like

My central heating (and hot water) is controlled by Hive... but while it is far easier to make adjustments over the Internet, the system will work without the Internet connection being present.

Indeed, earlier this month, I logged onto my Hive service** to discover that the device attached to my router had gone down, and had been down for four days. My heating system had been working properly, in terms of the temperature feeling about right (and the hot water heating up when it should have done), in the meantime.

And even if the timer/thermostat stops working (e.g. if its battery fails), I can switch on the boiler and water heater using the couple of on/off switches on the boiler controller.


** - Ironically, I did so because the timer/thermostat was reporting "low battery" and I was checking to see whether it had been working properly. The system did not know... because the device connected to my router hadn't been working so I had to "switch it off and on again".

 

[Edward M. Grant]

How long will it be before somebody hacks into Alexa and sticks in a virus causing every single owner of the device to suddenly order a year's supply of Spam?

You don't even need to hack into it. People have already demonstrated that audio from the Internet or TV can trick these devices into doing things.

Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if you could call in and leave a voice message telling it to order a thousand cans of spam.

That's the wonderful thing about voice recognition interfaces: unless it's good enough to distinguish the voice of the people who are authorized to use it from the people who aren't, anyone can use it to do whatever they want to do.

 

[Graymalkin]

You don't even need to hack into it. People have already demonstrated that audio from the Internet or TV can trick these devices into doing things.

Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if you could call in and leave a voice message telling it to order a thousand cans of spam.

That's the wonderful thing about voice recognition interfaces: unless it's good enough to distinguish the voice of the people who are authorized to use it from the people who aren't, anyone can use it to do whatever they want to do.

Couple that with ongoing improvements in motion capture/face mapping and recognition, even a Skype conversation/video call will be open to identity fraud. Also paves the way for some interesting role-play ...

 

[Jeffbert]

My central heating (and hot water) is controlled by Hive... but while it is far easier to make adjustments over the Internet, the system will work without the Internet connection being present.

Indeed, earlier this month, I logged onto my Hive service** to discover that the device attached to my router had gone down, and had been down for four days. My heating system had been working properly, in terms of the temperature feeling about right (and the hot water heating up when it should have done), in the meantime.

And even if the timer/thermostat stops working (e.g. if its battery fails), I can switch on the boiler and water heater using the couple of on/off switches on the boiler controller.


** - Ironically, I did so because the timer/thermostat was reporting "low battery" and I was checking to see whether it had been working properly. The system did not know... because the device connected to my router hadn't been working so I had to "switch it off and on again".

How convenient to control your thermostat using your smart phone!

As I understand it, there are so-called smart meters that replace the home's old-fashioned electric meters. These will soon be talking to your smart thermostat, & deciding that since it is 95 outside, it is unreasonable for you to enjoy 76 inside. Thus, it will override your settings, and select 84; well, at least it is not 95, we all must conserve energy.

You don't even need to hack into it. People have already demonstrated that audio from the Internet or TV can trick these devices into doing things.

Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if you could call in and leave a voice message telling it to order a thousand cans of spam.

That's the wonderful thing about voice recognition interfaces: unless it's good enough to distinguish the voice of the people who are authorized to use it from the people who aren't, anyone can use it to do whatever they want to do.

But, I don't like Spam!

 

[Ursa major]

As I understand it, there are so-called smart meters that replace the home's old-fashioned electric meters.

Yes. I keep getting letters telling me that the installers are in the area. They can go whistle.