Amazon faces a privacy backlash for its Sidewalk feature, which turns Alexa devices into neighborhood WiFi networks that owners have to opt out of

Kevin Shalvey reports:

Amazon customers are being automatically opted in to Sidewalk, a feature set to launch later this year that the company says will connect Alexa devices to nearby WiFi networks, even those owned by someone else.

[…]

Anticipating privacy concerns, Amazon published a research paper detailing the technology behind Sidewalk and the steps taken to keep users’ data private. The company concluded that privacy was one of the “foundational principals” of Sidewalk’s design.

“By sharing a small portion of their home network bandwidth, neighbors give a little – but get a lot in return,” the report’s authors said.

Read more on BusinessInsider.