Comcast Is Turning Millions of Its Routers Into Motion Detectors (theverge.com)
- Reference: 0185042802
- News link: https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/26/08/18/2050203/comcast-is-turning-millions-of-its-routers-into-motion-detectors
- Source link: https://www.theverge.com/news/981381/comcast-xfinity-shield-wifi-motion-sensing
> Wi-Fi motion sensing is a technology that has been around for a while, but it's only recently that it's become accurate and reliable enough to catch on. Linksys launched a similar service in 2021, but discontinued it a few years later. Lighting company Wiz launched a line of Wi-Fi-sensing smart bulbs in 2023, and more recently Philips Hue deployed a similar radio-frequency sensing technology in its products (using Zigbee rather than Wi-Fi). Comcast's motion sensing pairs with new modes in the Xfinity app -- Home Watch, Away Watch, and Dark Watch (a night/sleep mode) -- allowing you to turn sensing on or off based on your activities.
[1] https://www.theverge.com/news/981381/comcast-xfinity-shield-wifi-motion-sensing
[2] https://www.xfinity.com/hub/smart-home/wifi-motion
Re: (Score:1)
Germany brought the world Communism, both world wars, the Holocaust, Adolph Hitler, the Nazis and the Stasi. Go fuck your yourself.
Re: (Score:2, Offtopic)
I think you're mixing up communism which is what Karl Marx talked about and a bunch of fascist dictators who borrowed his books for rhetoric...
That said Germany recognized the threat of the far right and they have been clamping down on it since the fifties like you wouldn't believe. What is scary is that the far right has gradually been reducing those restrictions.
It's the paradox of tolerance. You cannot tolerate the intolerant. They will use that against you and then they will murder you in your s
Re: (Score:1)
Communism is the poster-child for the "No True Scotsman" fallacy -- Everyone who likes this philosophy (communism) can just say "there's never been any real communism". It's very convenient for them.
Re: (Score:2)
That's why it's necessary to take the concept of Communism and understand that it's an unattainable asymptote. Humanity is what gets in the way, we're selfish and we would nearly all of us take in order to have for ourselves even if our peers don't have the option. It would take a post-scarcity economy (think the situation of The Federation in Star Trek ) for there to even be a chance at something working, it would require that anyone can have access to almost anything that's new.
I don't look at specific s
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> Communism ...
I'm fairly certain that's not what the "Com" in Comcast stands for. Okay, they are a cable company and cable companies are the devil, so maybe I'll revise that to 70% certain.
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Way to out yourself as being American by being simultaneously loudly, assertively ignorant and racist at the same time.
** - Collective guilt is a fallacy; modern Germany is a highly democratic constitutional state with a commendable record on teaching against extremism; Marx and Engel drew heavily from French utopian socialists (e.g., Saint-Simon, Fourier), while it was the Russians who actually implemented communism; World War I began with the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand by a Bosnian
It's OPT-IN (Score:3, Informative)
Please stop with the sensationalism. As the linked-to article clearly explains, the motion tracking feature is OPT-IN.
When somebody turns this feature on, it's hard to imagine that they'd be surprised by it being on.
Re:It's OPT-IN (Score:5, Insightful)
It's 2026 dude. Nobody believes that anymore.
Unless you have laws and they are strictly enforced with extremely harsh penalties companies will do whatever the fuck they want and you have to suck it down. And we stopped passing those kind of laws here in America in the '80s when Ronald Reagan took over. The few we had left on the books we stopped and forcing when newt Gingrich started fucking up Congress. And the last of our civil rights got rendered moot when we gave up the courts to a bunch of corrupt fascists.
We are at the final line of defense as far as democracy is concerned. The voters and elections. It is possible because of Trump's failing Health we might turn that around just barely but it's pretty touch and go right now.
Re: It's OPT-IN (Score:3)
Now do Facebook shadow accounts.
You sound just like a noob.
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> Now do Facebook shadow accounts.
Flock has entered the chat.
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> Please stop with the sensationalism. As the linked-to article clearly explains, the motion tracking feature is OPT-IN.
It's an opt-in feature if you want to use it. That doesn't mean it's opt-in if they want to use it. Don't forget that every contract you sign today has a clause that terms and conditions can be changed at any time. All they have to do is state it in the fine print of your bill. If you don't notify them that you don't accept the change, then it will be in force. If you disagree they may turn it off. But if you live in an area where that's your only high-speed internet option they can drop you as a customer a
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If you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you. Perhaps you can use it to beat some sense into yourself.
Which part of the features exactly are opt-in? The part where it detects your movement inside your own home and reports it to the mothership? Or just the part where customers can receive alerts based on that activity? They don't appear to say.
And how long do you bet it will be until customers find they were "accidentally" opted into the feature without their knowledge? Or Comcast deliberately chan
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"the motion tracking feature is OPT-IN."
BWAHAHAHAHA this stupid motherfucker believes Comcast!
Time for the nursing home old man.
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If you believe it won't be turned on I have a router to sell I mean rent to you
Reason 862 why I use my own router (Score:2)
Reason #1 of course is the public Xfinity SSID that lets anyone in the neighborhood chomp on my bandwidth
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They claim that it does not count towards your bandwidth allotment if somebody would connect to the public Wi-Fi hotspot on one of their routers in your house and that it is also on a segmented Network.
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True. But it may explain why the homeless people like parking their RVs in front of my house.
Free WiFi!
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Yeah, homeless people have also driven truck prices way up lately. Normal people can't afford a truck anymore! Is that fair? We need a free truck program!
Soo (Score:2)
Does this require special hardware in their routers or can any router be turned into one of these motion detectors?
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I'm assuming that this works because when the AP is communicating with endpoints in fixed locations, the AP can tell when signal quality changes as attenuators move through the space. This might work better with modern 'beam forming' APs using modern 802.11 standards, but theoretically one could constantly measure the signal strength between a stationary endpoint and the AP and observe when that signal is weaker than it otherwise should be.
If there are insufficient stationary endpoints it might not work so
Sure, I'm fine with that - NOT (Score:2)
> ... allowing you to turn sensing on or off based on your activities.
Why was my first thought about this "bwahahaha"? I mean, they'd never activate this without permission - right?
I wonder how soon somebody will come up with some kind of random "stirrer" to mask occupants' movements.
Another reason... (Score:2)
Like anybody needed another reason to hate Comcast. Sheeh.
Comcast TattletaleasaService? (Score:3)
Is there any legal principle that prevents Comcast from using this to determine the number and size of pets you have, and then selling that data to, say, apartment management companies, HOAs, and municipal code-compliance departments that have restrictions/fines on number/size of pets?
"Find out how we help our partners in large urban markets increase their citation revenues by 19.7%!"
And then Comcast gets 3% of the deposit/fee/citation as profit-sharing, exactly like the red-light camera companies.
Isolate the thing (Score:2)
I've got my modem, router, NAS and printer attached to an extender from the closet they reside in. If Comcrap, or Rectum cable turn this on they get the 5x5 room. closet.
user consent (Score:2)
Are they turning this on with or without permission of the customer? Would they tell you if they did it on their own?
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Its a paid feature. You don't get it for free.
We have had access to this in Canada for a long time but it is ridiculously overpriced so I don't pay for it.
Re:user consent (Score:5, Informative)
It's a paid feature for you to access the data but I would be shocked if they didn't turn it on without notifying you anywhere except the finest of fine print so that they could sell the data. If all else fails here in America they will want to give the data to the police.
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And I can 100% guarantee you that if the cops show up with a warrant, they'll turn it on and step away from the monitor to get a cup of coffee.
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Or they'll sell the "anonymized data", including calculated bra sizes.
This is a pretty invasive move on Comcast's part. Only the lawyers will win this one.
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> Or they'll sell the "anonymized data", including calculated bra sizes.
Supposedly Facebook knows everything about me. They're running on way more specific information than just "when does he walk around his house in the evening?" You know what kind of ads I keep getting lately? Ones for a ridiculously overpriced e-scooter. I've also been getting ads for an 80s cover band made up of two teenagers and their father, for a tour that was in Florida a little over a week ago. It got the liking 80s pop music part right, but it's way off on my ownership of a time machine and desir
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If some data broker really wants to get their hands on information regarding every time my cat knocks something over in the middle of the night, it's their money to burn.
Not their money (Score:2)
It's taxpayer money. Means they'll burn through it all the faster.
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Does anybody read anything?
From the summary: "The free feature, part of Xfinity Shield, can send activity alerts through the Xfinity app and offers Home, Away, and nighttime monitoring modes"
From the link: "An opt-in feature of WiFi Shield, WiFi Motion is turned off by default. Use the Xfinity app to access the feature, toggle it on, and follow the setup process to configure your WiFi Motion coverage. Once activated, you can adjust settings, view activity, and access a feed of WiFi Motion events from the Xf
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I think they are lying and they will use it clandestinely in an attempt to enrich themselves.
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It's a feature their Wifi Shield product...which is free
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They turn their routers into public WIFI APs for people on their plan WIFI anywhere.
You have no control over it, its not yours. And this kind of crap is why you always deny them this, and get your own wifi/router.
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A little bit of aluminum foil and that 'feature' is dead.
If you're really feeling spiffy, the wire mesh from an old screen door from before they switched to plastic would probably work as well.
Re: (Score:1)
> A little bit of aluminum foil and that 'feature' is dead.
And so is your wifi *smh*
Re: user consent (Score:2)
Buy a cable router instead of renting one from them and/or connect your own wired wireless router to theirs.
Re: (Score:2)
Literally what I said... WTF?
And how is this off topic? LOL
Re: user consent (Score:2)
I didn't vote off topic. We agree, but you'd be surprised how many people I have offered free cable routers who prefer to rent. People are just incredibly stupid in general, to the point where I have begun to wonder if AI may actually be more intelligent than some. I don't think tinfoil would help and I wouldn't trust comcast settings to disable WiFi anyway.
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This is why I use my own equipment, Comcast doesn't get to do things to my WiFi.
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The main reason I use my own equipment is the cost - purchasing my own cable modem paid for itself in only about 6 months.
Admittedly, the security benefits are a nice serendipity too.
Re: (Score:2)
> Admittedly, the security benefits are a nice serendipity too.
I'm just sittin' here with my TP-Link router, smugly satisfied that only the Chinese will know when I get up in the middle of the night to take a piss.