> Apple: Their device: "Hi, I'm an AirTag! This is my serial number!" Your device: "hey Apple, I was at (X, Y) when I saw this serial number."
> Amazon: Their device: "Hi, can I send traffic through your network?" Your device: "sure, buddy!"
I think you're mis-characterizing Amazon here. It's not "can I send traffic through your network", it's "can you pass this message to Amazon for me? Amazon will pass it on to my manufacturer." The devices in question can only talk to a specific set of Amazon servers. They can't talk to any systems other than the Sidewalk Servers.
> When Sidewalk is on, your Bridge can share a low-bandwidth connection with Sidewalk-enabled devices, like sensors and smart lights that are installed in locations around and outside your home where wifi may not be available. Amazon Sidewalk does not support high-bandwidth connections like a wifi or cellular network would, so you would still use those connections for streaming movies, posting on social media or sending email.
sidewalk device "hey amazon i want to talk to my manufacturer" amazon: "sure thing! let me pipe you through to them" manufacturer "lets connect you to whatever we want on the internet"
how is that not unfettered access to whatever the device wants via the manufacture's server?
Because that doesn't give them any access to my internal network, which is the usual objection. If their device wants to talk to an arbitrary server on the public internet, why do I care, when it's all encapsulated in encrypted tunnels? Once the packets emerge from Amazon's server, they can't get back into my network.
Yes, this is using some of my bandwidth, but it's capped at 80kbps and 500MB/month, which seems like a pretty small gift to Amazon and the device manufactuere, assuming it even hits that, which it probably won't in most circumstances.
because the issue isn't about access to your network, its the rampant abuses that could be done with it - a stalker/crazy ex could place a recording device that streams audio (only need 30kps) constantly or tracks someone with no repercussions or any of the security airtags has and without users knowledge. This is a classic "move technology forward with no regard to the consequences and who cares about privacy" move.
Developing such a thing, registering it with Amazon, Amazon approving it as a compatible product, setting up the integration with Amazon, ... sounds like something nobody would do when they could just use the mobile phone network instead.
i can not see amazon doing a good job vetting all the devices/not making it easy to setup a test/dev account and devices. and mobile phone network costs money for each device, sidewalk is free for all?
> Amazon: Their device: "Hi, can I send traffic through your network?" Your device: "sure, buddy!"
I think you're mis-characterizing Amazon here. It's not "can I send traffic through your network", it's "can you pass this message to Amazon for me? Amazon will pass it on to my manufacturer." The devices in question can only talk to a specific set of Amazon servers. They can't talk to any systems other than the Sidewalk Servers.