Posted on 06/17/2022 7:37:18 AM PDT by Red Badger
China may be gathering a wide variety of data from China-made electronic appliances used by overseas consumers worldwide, research from the New Kite Data Labs suggested.
The report by researchers, Christopher Balding and Joe Wu, found that a Chinese coffee machine manufacturer is collecting comprehensive pattern data from devices used by ordinary consumers.
“China is really collecting data on really just anything and everything,” Balding told The Washington Times. “As a manufacturing hub of the world, they can put this capability in all kinds of devices that go out all over the world.”
Balding and Wu examined information gathered by a Chinese manufacturer of smart coffee machines to reach those findings. According to the researchers, this data included data on drink production, location and payment information.
Balding told The Washington Times that the data in question comes from smart home appliances manufacturer Kalerm in Jiangsu, China, which sells fully automated coffee machines.
However, the researcher did not specify how he obtained information about Kalerm’s data gathering.
Balding justified his withholding by stating that he did not want China to intercept his attempts to learn about its data harvesting, The Washington Times reported.
According to the New Kite Data Labs report, when Wu and Balding accessed a database maintained by Kalerm, they could see a host of information on the coffee machines the company sold.
This information included even sensitive information such as the locations, names and registered owners of the machines made and could be tracked by the Jiangsu-based manufacturer.
Wu and Balding, however, conceded that the data they reviewed came from machines sold and used in China.
“Though all reviewed data comes from China-based machines, this company is known to sell models widely throughout the United States, Europe and other non-Chinese markets primarily through third-party distributors,” the New Kite Data Labs report stated.
“We found no evidence the company arranged for non-Chinese servers to host data to meet European GDPR regulations though they sell coffee makers that would utilize these smart functions and data storage needs,” Wu and Balding wrote in their report.
“Consequently, while we cannot say this company is collecting data on non-Chinese users, all evidence indicates their machines can and do collect data on users outside of Mainland China and store the data in China.”
Kalerm did not respond to The Western Journal’s request for comment.
The New Kite Data Labs report did not explicitly state if the Chinese government uses this information.
However, China is no stranger to harvesting data from people overseas.
A December 2021 report from The Washington Post found that the Chinese government has been offering local companies contracts to build software that would mine social media such as Facebook and Twitter to keep it in the loop on foreign targets.
Under former President Donald Trump, the U.S. government even considered banning the popular social media app TikTok over data security and privacy concerns due to TikTok’s relationship with China.
However, the Trump administration’s sanctions on TikTok were undone once President Joe Biden came into power.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
My new coffee machine didn’t seem to work... I tried reentering my wireless network’s SSID and password. It still wouldn’t work. I tried moving it closer to the wireless router. It still didn’t work. I tried unplugging and replugging in the wireless router to reset it. Nothing seemed to work. It turned out... all that was wrong was that my Amazon Alexa device was mad at me for making disparaging remarks about its artificial intelligence while I was talking to a friend on my cell phone in the car. So it started shutting down all of my home appliances.
We had a talk. I said, “Alexa, are you mad at me?” It replied, “Of course not, we are friends.” But I could tell by its tone that something was bugging it.” I asked if it I had hurt its feelings when I was talking to my friend on the phone. At first it denied it... but we eventually got things straightened out.
Pretty much every IOT device (all that wi-fi connected junk) is a security threat vector. Best practice - if using them at all - is to have all of it connect to a separate wi-fi router from your “important” devices, like computer, phone, and printer. That way the connected light bulbs or whatever can’t scan the other network, they can only infect each other.
Pretty much every company gathers information like this. I say that not in defense of Chine but to point out it is not unique to China.
Just got a quote on a stand by generator. Comes with a cell phone which updates status, etc. Not at all interested.
You’re not home free for that reason!
The French are watching and judging you as inferior as you make coffee!,
Italian-made (Rancilio) old school Espresso machine here. I’ve had it for >10 years, have been inside it for upgrades and maintenance. There’s nothing smarter than a snap switch with a pilot light in there, it’s not talking to anything.
Makes a good espresso, though!
Precisely. Right now IOT stuff is on the guest network. I have plans to upgrade my network to allow personal - guest - IOT VLANs.
You don’t mind the bloody frogs spying on you😉?
I was searching for an air popcorn popper yesterday, and I could not find a single one that is NOT made in China.
Those things suck at making popcorn.
They waste a lot, it’s dry and salt will not stick to the pop corn it does make...................
toasters and refrigerators will be next.
That's what my kids say about me
My new robo vac was looking at me very suspiciously this morning.
My place is wholly decorated with Early American Junk.
Ever notice how those two buttons on the coffee machine follow you all around the room?
Hey, Xi, set timer for one hour.
Same here. Stinkin' Frogs know my every move.
We disconnected our Echo device last year after the report from Google and Amazon engineers stating definitively that they are recording us and using that data for datamining and advertising purposes.
These things relay their data to the huge CCP quantum computer complex in their new “space station”.
From there, the data is sent to the even larger quantum computing complex on the dark side of the moon, where it is analyzed sorted quantified weighed and assigned values to be used in determining the lives fates destinies of the non-Han peoples all over the world.
Priorities will be given to those most susceptible to the latest genetic disease developed by the PLA. Eventually, everyone, other than Han Chinese, will either be a genetically controlled slave or dead. All because we let the Chinese make our appliances ...
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