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Your home runs on a variety of different technologies and tools to help you run your day-to-day work and live comfortably. Although most technologies are relatively safe, some of them require you to check their permissions to see if your data is being shared with external sources or with people around you. One of the most important technologies you should be aware of is Amazon Sidewalk. It’s vital for you to understand how it works and how to disable it to prevent your neighbors from accessing your network and data.
What is Amazon Sidewalk?
Amazon Sidewalk is a shared network that helps Amazon devices like Echo, Ring, and motion sensors work better at home. It’s useful to help your devices have stronger connectivity in locations outside your home where the WiFi is not as strong. This can help get better footage for Ring cameras, locate lost items or pets, and more.
Amazon Sidewalk creates a low bandwidth network with devices located near you geographically. In practice, Amazon Sidewalk uses a portion of your internet bandwidth and pools with your neighbors to create a stronger network for devices to work better.
Purpose of Amazon Sidewalk
If you want to use Amazon Sidewalk, it can be beneficial for several reasons. These reasons include:
Connection: Amazon Sidewalk helps your device stay connected when it loses connection to your WiFi. If Amazon Sidewalk is enabled, your device will be reconnected to your router as soon as it loses connection to WiFi.
Finding lost items: Amazon Sidewalk empowers any tracking devices or location features that are enabled on a device. If you use products like Tile or any other tracking devices, it can be much easier to find your lost item or pet with Amazon Sidewalk.
Dangers of Amazon Sidewalk: Although the features of Amazon Sidewalk are great, there are several dangers that accompany its use.
Security: Amazon Sidewalk has yet to answer any questions regarding security. Although it’s designed by Amazon, there are still many questions surrounding how the data is used and what kind of data can be stolen if their systems are infiltrated. Any vulnerabilities in security can be devastating because a hacker can gain access to your geolocation and home data.
New system: Since Amazon Sidewalk is a new product and system, the protocols around it have yet to be cemented. There’s no data encryption or multiple layers of security. You don’t want to be the group that Amazon Sidewalk is tested out on until it becomes safe for the majority of public use.
How to Opt-Out of Amazon Sidewalk:
It’s very likely that Amazon Sidewalk is turned on by default on your device. There are several ways to opt-out of Amazon Sidewalk. Here are the guidelines you should follow to turn off Amazon Sidewalk for Alexa and Ring:
Alexa: Open Alexa app >> Click more >> Select settings >> Select account settings >> Select Amazon Sidewalk >> Turn off Amazon Sidewalk
Ring: Open Ring app >> Click three-lines in the upper left-hand >> Select control center >> Click Sidewalk >> Click Sidewalk slider button >> Confirm you wish to disable Amazon Sidewalk