Bonum Certa Men Certa

Listening Devices Marketed as 'Smart' Speakers (Microphones) and Other 'Smart' Stuff Which Does Not Do What They Tell You

Beacons inside one's home are aggressively marketed with COVID-19 as a convenient and timely pretext (spying on us to 'protect' us from human contact)

Stop ‘smart’ meters
Eyes and ears inside the home



Summary: Regressive technology that gives control over our lives to increasingly sociopathic and imperialistic institutions ought not be adopted and popularised; they view themselves as "masters" over our most private parts/aspects of life

THE grim reality of supposedly 'smart' technology is rather daunting if introduced overnight, especially that 'trendy' technology with misleading names and labels. They come up with lots of brands and dishonest descriptions (e.g. "assistant") to push these things into more and more homes. In some countries it's gradually becoming impossible to receive gas and electricity without having a so-called 'smart' meter (in effect somebody else's device connected to one's home network, collecting data with a bunch of sensors attached to objects inside the home).



"In some countries it's gradually becoming impossible to receive gas and electricity without having a so-called 'smart' meter (in effect somebody else's device connected to one's home network, collecting data with a bunch of sensors attached to objects inside the home)."For over a decade we've been warning about back doors and eavesdropping -- an issue acknowledged by rather rare and few individuals at the time (a suppressed subject in mainstream media, which does not strive to inform but to empower the state and oligarchs connected it). Prior to Snowden's NSA leaks we probably lacked a sufficient amount of hard evidence; instead we relied on people with (indirect and/or former) access to spies and spying agencies/networks. They spoke about this, some published books about the subject, but they didn't bring out documents to prove it. It's likely that publication of such documents would have had them legally prosecuted, maybe even relying on exile/asylum in Russia just to avoid prison (Snowden would face imprisonment if he returned to the US, as revealed last month in the Julian Assange extradition case in London).

If technology was (still) meant to serve users rather than oppress users, it wouldn't have gone in this Orwellian direction. But we very well know that technology is evolving along the lines of social control rather then social liberation. It's being designed and refined along the lines of seed funding from the military (or arms of the imperialism-serving apparatus, typically 5-Eyes). In China the technology firms are closely connected to the regime, whereas in the West this relationship is more cleverly disguised and each big company pretends that it's protecting our privacy while valuing our security. People are promoted (moving up the career ladder) based on their ability to lie to us about it... with a straight face.

"If technology was (still) meant to serve users rather than oppress users, it wouldn't have gone in this Orwellian direction."The same NSA chief whom Snowden exposed (Keith Alexander) was recently added to Amazon's Board of Directors. They're not even subtle about those sorts of things anymore. Might as well rebrand Amazon and change its logo to something with a missile and imperial eagles. As for Microsoft, people have a rough idea what it has always been up to. It's literally being run by a bunch of thugs and criminals who grin at us.

‘Smart’ metersI've long made a very simple and candid observation: if Microsoft vanished, we'd still have problems. If Windows had sub-1% market share, we'd still lack freedom. The seed funding would still be funnelled into companies that combat human dignity to empower those who control the state (in the West that's typically oligarchs, who amassed in personal wealth almost as much as the whole national debt, rendering it merely a passage of wealth, not an unavoidable deficit). It ought not be so shocking that Bill Gates was a supremely close friend of a sex trafficking bankster who offered young girls even to our so-called 'royal' family. We should not be surprised that the corporate media no longer seems to care about that; instead, in exchange for money from Gates, it's promoting companies he is investing in (for profit) while (mis)treating him like a vaccine guru without disclosing that he's actually a vaccine profiteer.

"The idea of having something called "smart" or "assistant" inside the home may seem alluring on the surface (it's a superficiality targeting insecure and gullible people)."Social control can be attained in all sorts of ways, including blackmail. Mass surveillance is a 'dirt-digging' expedition that makes more and more people potential victims of blackmail, either by peer (e.g. partner) or by the state, or both. That sort of blackmail was demonstrated, for instance, when MLK was recorded having sex (it's nowadays known as SEXINT). The FBI, which treated him like enemy of the state, then used those for extortion (an apparent attempt to kill MLK). In a similar fashion the state can leverage information to control (by deterrence if not public shaming) those who are relatively powerful, including the so-called 'royal' family. It's an instrument of control and the more they know (better to also have evidence of, e.g. video, audio or both), the more they can manipulate people. Those can be politicians, entertainers, high-profile athletes, philosophers and so on.

‘Smart’ meters for the stateThe idea of having something called "smart" or "assistant" inside the home may seem alluring on the surface (it's a superficiality targeting insecure and gullible people). If received as a "gift", it might be hard to reject it because it can offend the buyer and/or feel like a wasted product. The Web is constantly being spammed with paid-for 'articles' for/by companies that sell such devices; they tell people that they need one or urge people to buy such devices for a "loved one". We're being brainwashed/indoctrinated/conditioned to believe that many people actually want these and would appreciate those things as a "gift". If rejected and passed on to another person (not the original recipient), these devices would then harm someone else, potentially along with tenants who share the same household. So the only solution is to put an end to manufacturing and advertising of such malicious things, which truly empower only those who deserve no power (they cannot be trusted; they're on ego trips). Like that aforementioned Amazon Board of Directors with Keith Alexander inside it. He used to work for banks after his abuses inside the NSA were exposed. Big Brother, Big Banks... Big Money. He now works for Jeff Bezos. Big shot!

With Christmas a couple of months away and people remotely communicating with friends and family ("Winter is Coming" means overcrowded hospitals are imminent) there will be this temptation to buy so-called 'smart' things, which are spying devices (or "bugs") wrapped up in cheap festive paper, a carton box and lots of plastics with a computer chip at the heart of it, ready to connect to the local network or to another device perpetually connected to the local network.

Big Brother is waiting. It's listening. If it's not listening (yet), then it's waiting for you to buy more 'smart' devices, either for yourself or for somebody else.

Screenshot sources: What are ‘Smart’ Meters? | Is your smart meter spying on you?

Recent Techrights' Posts

IBM Lost Nearly 33% in "Value" in 3 Months (Shares Down $100), But Nobody Held Accountable
This is a truly dysfunctional company
Google "Hey Hi" (Slop) Having a Stroke, Thinks I am Married to the Grandmother of My Grandfather
Seriously!
Beehiiv and Substack Are Platform Lock-in (Similar to Vendor Lock-in), Don't Use Beehiiv and Substack (and the Likes of These)
Proprietary platforms are a problem. Some people "get it" sooner than others.
Jim Zemlin/Linux Foundation Selling Anthropic Slop After Getting Bribed for Slop Marketing ('Linux' Foundation is a Pay-to-Say For-Profit Marketing Company That Buys and Manipulates the Media Based on False Pretences)
Look what they've done to Steven Vaughan-Nichols (SJVN)
The Corrupt Lecture the Non-Corrupt - Part XX - EPO Management's Unified (One) Voice or Policy is, Doing Cocaine is OK When You're a Friend and/or Family of President Campinos
The management needs to resign to save the Office
 
Gemini Links 13/05/2026: TUIs and Internet Radio
Links for the day
How the European Patent Office Became a Crime and Corruption Hub, One of Europe's Biggest
incomplete outline
Techrights at 19.5 (We Started in 2006, Days After the Microsoft/Novell Deal)
When Novell bought Ximian (run by the "best friend" of Graveley) it brought trouble to all of us, not just to Novell
In Croatia, Microsoft Windows Share Sank From 98% to All-Time Low of 67% (or 28% If One Counts Android)
statements made last week (and last month) by Microsoft's CEO confirm that Windows is rapidly losing users
SLAPP Censorship - Part 75 Out of 200: All True, All Verifiable, Unlike Garrett and Graveley Lying to at Least Three High Court Judges About What They Did
A lot of what I said a year ago not only turned out to be correct; it was moreover affirmed by Garrett after he had sworn on the Bible and put himself at risk to his liberty
The Corrupt Lecture the Non-Corrupt - Part XXI - EPO President Campinos Bribing to Buy His Seat, But Cautions Staff Against Bribery
This isn't a democratic institution
Gemini Links 12/05/2026: Spring Cleaning and New GemText Software
Links for the day
Links 12/05/2026: Samsung Sued by Dua Lipa (Publicity Rights), ‘Savage Love’ Copyright Infringement Lawsuit
Links for the day
IBM Falls to One-year Low
At one point or threshold does the Board (controlled by the CEO) sack the CEO?
Gemini Links 12/05/2026: On Astronomy and Stargazing, Coyote Time, and Freenom
Links for the day
Links 12/05/2026: Data Centres Destroying Neighbourhoods, "Care Workers Are Saying No to 24-Hour Workdays"
Links for the day
Richard Stallman to Give Public Talk in Erlangen, Germany (Next European Tour)
Seems like a large room
If IBM Suddenly Vanished in the 1980s, There Would be Chaos. Not Anymore.
IBM's management has rendered IBM more irrelevant than ever before
Gitlab is in Trouble and Its Shares Have Collapsed
Down almost 80% since it began [...] The real issue has nothing to do with slop, it is a lack/loss of customers and erosion of the company's theoretical "value"
Microsoft: Mass Layoffs Are "Offers" (Like "Job Offers"), Culling Experienced and Highly-Paid Staff is "Softer Workforce-reduction Strategy"
Media sites that play along with those lies don't do journalism, they're in the PR industry
Under IBM, Mass Layoffs at Red Hat No Better Than Oracle Under Larry Ellison (Treating Workers Like Disposables - Even Enemies - Overnight)
under IBM the respect for the worker (or peer) does not exist
The Slop-Amplified Fear of Privilege Escalation (Local, Not Remote) in Linux, the Kernel
we are meant to assume this is no better and no worse than Microsoft intentionally putting back doors in everything, even encryption
GitLab the Latest Company to Do Mass Layoffs and Use Slop as the Go-to Excuse (GitLab Users Should Worry Too)
This round of layoffs (disguised as something else) has nothing to do with slop ("hey hi"). It's about commercial problems.
Technology Not Meant to Last
A society apathetic towards declining production (or manufacturing) standards will end up ripped off
statCounter Cannot 'See' Chinese Operating Systems That Gain Many Millions of Users Per Month
There is no way for statCounter to recognise or show the market share of HarmonyOS
SLAPP Censorship - Part 74 Out of 200: The Basis of My Lawsuit Against Alex Graveley, Who Helps Garrett Stack the Docket in Another Continent
claim against the Serial Strangler from Microsoft
Update on Slop About "Linux"
"Linux" is a term many people are interested it, so it's not shocking that slopfarms target it
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, May 11, 2026
IRC logs for Monday, May 11, 2026
GAFAM (Microsoft) "Cloud Computing" Means Another Country's Military Accesses All Your Data
reminder that confidentiality and Clown Computing are complete opposites
Another Discrimination Lawsuit Against IBM and Workers Say IBM Culls Older Workers (Just Like Microsoft)
If IBM fails to retain some of the smartest people, then what is the future of IBM?
Gemini Links 12/05/2026: Android Nostalgia and Switching to Guix
Links for the day
Links 11/05/2026: Another Oracle Setback and Mass Layoffs in Iran
Links for the day
Gemini Links 11/05/2026: Older Can Be Faster and Textmode Workflow
Links for the day
Links 11/05/2026: The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Admits It Only Reacts When It's Too Late (Damage Already Done), Ombudsman’s Animal Cruelty HK Report
Links for the day
If It Takes You a Second to Serve (or Receive) a Page, That's Definitely Too Slow
For speeds at milliseconds (e.g. for pages to fully load in a tenth of a second) the pages must be ready to be sent as soon as they're requested
It's Not About Speed, It is About Patience and Adherence to Truth, Principles, Scientific Integrity
attacks on us only ever made us stronger - a lesson that our adversaries have learned the hard way
Cyber Show Does it Like Techrights: Static and Gemini Protocol as 'First-Class Citizen'
HTML and GemText (over Gemini Protocol) would be rendered in tandem
Libya's Share on the Web: 5.2% GNU/Linux
GNU/Linux has hit an all-time high there
SLAPP Censorship - Part 73 Out of 200: Microsoft's Graveley and Garrett Remain Closely Connected in May 2026 ("Tag-Teaming" Against Bloggers in Another Continent)
The phrase "judge a person by their friends" seems applicable here
Codecs and Software Patents - Part VI - The European Patent Office, Nokia, Microsoft, Sisvel, and More
Whatever Nokia used to be, it's certainly not an ally and a lot of the turmoil at the EPO is the fault of companies like Nokia
Discussions About When the Axe Falls at IBM/Kyndryl (11,000 Layoffs Estimated)
"Kyndryl restructuring should reduce overhead functions and reduce the number of managers that lack technical knowledge"
A World After Microsoft (and GAFAM) and After GitHub Shuts Down
the only growth area is debt
Fake News, Propaganda, and Misinformation: Microsoft Investing Money It Does Not Have in "Hey Hi" (for "Entertainment Purposes" Only)
This will not end well
Today the Whole European Patent Office (EPO) is on Strike and Next Monday an Even Bigger Strike
the media refuses to cover these and is thus complicit
The Corrupt Lecture the Non-Corrupt - Part IXX - EPO Management Speaks of Reputation and Integrity While Putting Cocaine Addicts in Management
If the EPO values its "reputation", then it needs to start by ousting the management
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, May 10, 2026
IRC logs for Sunday, May 10, 2026
Links 11/05/2026: Security Breaches, Politics, and Energy Crunch
Links for the day
Gemini Links 10/05/2026: "Accidental Cameras" and "Addictive" Interfaces in Social Control Media
Links for the day