We have another indication now that the Internet of Things can be a mixed blessing. Perhaps not every gadget in our homes should be linked to the Worldwide Everything?
The great thing about a coffee maker with a Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connection is that you can set things up with a few taps on your smartphone. Brewing times, strength, temperature, etc., can all be arranged without ever having to trudge from bedroom to kitchen.
The horrible thing, though — in addition to the slim possibility that a hacker will take your coffee machine hostage — is that a Wi-Fi-capable coffee maker made in China may be spying on you on behalf of the Chinazi government.
This is the conclusion of Christopher Balding, a researcher who finds evidence that coffee machines manufactured by Kalerm in Jiangsu, China, collect a diverse array of data.
About their users.
Stuff like the users’ names and general locations as well as usage patterns.
Balding doesn’t know for sure that the company simply turns over such data to the government. But Chinese companies must cooperate with any government demands, and Balding notes that China often gathers as much data as possible and figures out what to do with it later.
The data-scavenging of the Chinese government is not exactly unique. Think Ed Snowden and the program he revealed, for example. But “the breadth and depth of their data-collection efforts” are in a class by themselves, Balding says.
It seems that my lack of a connected coffee machine, coupled with my chronic dependence on Starbucks, is proving very wise indeed.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
—
See all recent commentary
(simplified and organized)
6 replies on “The Coffee Connection”
Haven’t been able to verify that there’s actually any significant coffee in a Starbucks coffee. All of the descriptive label modifiers are also likely listed in order of their greatest percentage of the ingredients in the cup, with “coffee” being the last and likely least addition. Like holistic medicine that contains only a few molecules.
I do not know any computer-savvy person who wants his-or-her car or otherwise traditional appliances beyond the television connected to the Internet.
But “progressives” will find excuses to mandate that cars and heavy appliances be connected to the ‘Net. If they are not prevented from effecting such demands, then the coffee machines will hardly matter.
Every morning, when my alarm (which is also my Echo Dot) goes off, I say the same eight words:
“Alexa, stop. Alexa, turn on the espresso machine.”
And by the time I get dressed and out of the bedroom, my four-shot cup is just about ready.
If Xi — or Bezos — finds that information useful, well, they’re welcome to it as long as I get my damn coffee. If I don’t, I’m going to be cross.
Nothing here is capable of connecting to the net except my laptop hot-spot. Not even my (non-smart) TV.
My old coffeemaker has a 24 hour timer that still works after ~30 years.
So a few taps from your smartphone will set up and start the coffee maker. What if there is no water in it? Is it smart enough to realize this and ignore your other instructions? Even if you have an old coffeemaker with just a timer, will it know if you forgot to put in the water and not turn itself on?
None of my coffee makers connects to the ‘Net, but one of my drip-brewers senses whether it has enough water. Such functionality is older than connectability of coffee-makers to the ‘Net. I s’pose that someone might make a coffee-maker with Internet connectivity but without such a failsafe; buying it would be unwise.