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Amazon Sidewalk: the good, the bad, and the risky
Does a crowdsourced network justify the privacy concerns?
On June 8, Amazon is rolling out Sidewalk, its mesh network designed to amplify its hardware ecosystem by improving device setup, range, and wi-fi reliability. Amazon device owners will be automatically enrolled. While they can opt out, privacy advocates worry the default opted-in approach will push people into an untested network.
What is Amazon’s Sidewalk Network?
Amazon Sidewalk creates a low-bandwidth network that pools a small portion of your internet bandwidth to increase connectivity and range. This allows smart home devices to create a bridge between your WiFi and one another. For example, if your Ring doorbell is barely within your WiFi range, but your Echo device is in between, Ring can use Sidewalk to stay connected.
Compatible devices include Alexa, Echo, Ring security cams, outdoor lights, motion sensors, and Tile tracking devices. To give an idea of scale, Amazon had sold over 100 million Alexa-powered devices alone as of 2019.
The good
Extended device range through a distributed network
Device owners contribute a small portion of their internet bandwidth to create a larger network that can improve device performance, both inside and outside the home. Sidewalk simplifies setting up new devices, extends the working range of devices, and helps devices stay online.
Minimal data usage
Amazon limits the total monthly data used by Sidewalk to reduce the chances of degraded home network performance. It’s capped at 500MB, which is roughly equivalent to streaming 10 minutes of high definition video.
The bad
Users are opted in by default
To create an effective mesh network, Amazon needs as many devices as possible to contribute. Taking advantage of human psychology, Amazon has decided to automatically enable Sidewalk on every capable device, knowing that people rarely change the default settings.
