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

More Shutdowns at Microsoft, Hundreds of Workers Impacted Shortly
It's not the entire wave, just part of it
The World Needs Activists With Social Skills and Perseverance
An everyday activist makes life better for everybody, everywhere (not for personal gain or even credit)
 
As Usual, Late on a Friday XBox (Microsoft) Releases Evidence of Its Demise
We covered several such Friday announcements earlier this year
Gemini Links 24/10/2026: Break/Fix and OpenStreetMap
Links for the day
Links 23/10/2026: Slop "is Scaling Transnational Repression" and Infringement and DMCA Suits Against Suno/Anthropic (Plagiarism Blenders)
Links for the day
The Register MS: About 60 Mentions of "AI" in One Day Are Paid-for Spam (Sponsored Hype, Composed by the Companies Covered)
The Register MS is a dying site
Links 22/10/2026: MElon (Elon Musk) Election Interference and Perl/Raku Foundation by the Numbers
Links for the day
Techrights Audience Grew as a Function of the Intensity of Attacks on Its Existence
We try to publish fewer stories but better (not necessarily long but at least important) stories
TechRepublic is Becoming a Slopfarm
It seems like TechRepublic became LLM slop (maybe all of it, maybe only some of it for now)
Techrights is Not About GNU/Linux, Tux Machines Is
When we say "GNU/Linux" we emphasise the GNU
Intercontinental Brigading - Part XII - Lawfare to Cover Up Microsoft's Restricted Boot Calamity (Microsoft as Authority Over Linux), Garrett Wants to Talk About Penises Instead
When lawsuits become a political weapon
Without Microsoft's Monopoly (and Monopoly Rents) the Inevitable Microsoft Mass Layoffs Carry on Endlessly
Microsoft Windows is not retaining the dominance it once had
IBM's Debt Grew About $2 Billion in 3 Months
The silent layoffs still seem to impact Red Hat
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, October 22, 2026
IRC logs for Thursday, October 22, 2026
Gemini Links 22/10/2026: Solar MiniBBS, Building Major Tom, and Zig
Links for the day
Links 22/10/2026: Busan’s Celebrity Shark in Canal Again
Links for the day
Links 22/10/2026: "Software Developers Have Been Promoted Into Incompetence"
Links for the day
Intercontinental Brigading - Part XI - Losing Over a Million Pounds (Borrowed Money) to Try to Silence Critics of Restricted Boot With Microsoft-Controlled "Certificates"
Garrett is also very jealous of Daniel Pocock
Links 22/10/2026: eBay to Lay Off a Tenth of Staff (Again), Node.js and PHP Security Crises, Climate News
Links for the day
Red Hat Layoffs Still Going on This Week (Whilst IBM's Debt Grows in Spite of Mass Layoffs)
IBM is bluffing/cheating the shareholders again
IBM's Debt Continues to Increase While the Company Rapidly Shrinks
This is what a dying company looks like
Linux Kernel Needs Diversity and Diversity of Good Code, Not LLM Slop
Linux (and Linus) are kicking a can down the road
Microsoft Shrinks Every Year
Microsoft will try to spin or twist this as "efficiency"
Gemini Links 22/10/2026: Holiday Inn and Emacs
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, October 21, 2026
IRC logs for Wednesday, October 21, 2026
Techrights Was Right About a Fake Security Model Built Around Lies or Built Upon Trust in "Certificates" and "Authorities" (like Microsoft)
We have begun to amass some media reports and blog posts from technical sites
Windows Monopoly is No Longer Sustainable (the Case of Oceania)
This is why Microsoft layoffs are happening all the time
Some Downtime Possible Shortly (Router Work)
We don't use PHP in the site anymore
Mass Layoffs at Microsoft This Week and/or Next Week
Cannot pull a bunny out of some hat
With Its Future on the Line, EPO Management (Dictatorship) Resorts to Further Escalations to Fake 'Production' and Curtail Industrial Actions
It's clear that with a yearlong campaign of industrial actions - including strikes - Campinos cannot save face anymore
Gemini Links 21/10/2026: Summer Day in Tokyo (30c in Late October) and Whole Food for the Whole World
Links for the day
Links 21/10/2026: "Zelensky Took the Gloves Off This Time With Convicted Felon" and "Cellebrite iPhone Radio Zero-Day"
Links for the day
Reuters is Becoming Slop, Not a News Agency (Treat Reports From Reuters Sceptically)
In their own words
Disclosure/s Crisis at The Register MS (Promoting a Ponzi Scheme for Money)
So now they sell several schemes/scams at the same time, not limited to the slop
Links 21/10/2026: "The Tragic Death of the Republican Party" and "No War But Data Center War"
Links for the day
Internet Relay Chat Still Growing
The numbers go up, not down [...] Don't believe the doomers
Intercontinental Brigading - Part X - American Back Doors Inside Our Computers, With Transatlantic Swatting Against Critics Thrown 'Into the Mix'
"If your Windows PC's Secure Boot certificates are out of date, your system is vulnerable to malware like rootkits."
Gemini Links 21/10/2026: A Walk Through Amsterdam and Pythagorean Theorem
Links for the day
More Mass Layoffs at Microsoft Weeks From Now, Then Again Months From Now
Microsoft's crisis is not limited to XBox
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, October 20, 2026
IRC logs for Tuesday, October 20, 2026