$17 smartwatch sends something to random Chinese IP address

[made2hack]

Hi all,

Because Dave got one in the mailbag, I thought sharing this was just too good.

Chinese Smart watch spying

[Ian.M]

Broken link.  extra '[' (%5B) needs removing. Fixed

Its the android app for the watch that sends something from your phone/tablet, not the watch.  No one is surprised that cheap Chinese s--t is dodgy. It comes with a piece of paper with an IP address, (not even a domain name) to get the app, and that's the software equivalent of buying goods at closing time in the pub carpark! 

[f4eru]

>>  Topic: $17 smartwatch sends something to random Chinese IP address

No worry. The 1000$ apple watch does exactly the same. Except it'S a random US IP, which is much worse for data privacy.

[metRo_]

>>  Topic: $17 smartwatch sends something to random Chinese IP address

No worry. The 1000$ apple watch does exactly the same. Except it'S a random US IP, which is much worse for data privacy.

The way people worry about china and dont mind for being spied every single day...

[sram]

>>  Topic: $17 smartwatch sends something to random Chinese IP address

No worry. The 1000$ apple watch does exactly the same. Except it'S a random US IP, which is much worse for data privacy.

Interesting. You have some proof?

[Barny]

*The Apple gets through general terms and conditions full access to the device and do what they want with it.
*Apple admitted it themselve. (To ensure the wonderful user experience.)

[Fungus]

>>  Topic: $17 smartwatch sends something to random Chinese IP address
No worry. The 1000$ apple watch does exactly the same. Except it'S a random US IP, which is much worse for data privacy.

Interesting. You have some proof?

Do a bit of googling... Apple is known to participate in the PRISM program.

[borjam]

Broken link.  extra '[' (%5B) needs removing. Fixed

Its the android app for the watch that sends something from your phone/tablet, not the watch.  No one is surprised that cheap Chinese s--t is dodgy. It comes with a piece of paper with an IP address, (not even a domain name) to get the app, and that's the software equivalent of buying goods at closing time in the pub carpark!

For the record, I connected my Rigol DS1074Z to a fully monitored network for several hours, and the only packets it sent were the DHCP/BOOTP requests. Absolutely nothing else.

[sram]

*The Apple gets through general terms and conditions full access to the device and do what they want with it.
*Apple admitted it themselve. (To ensure the wonderful user experience.)

I was just asking for proof.  Like a router log?

[cidcorp]

I order stuff from China all the time.  With that said you have to use a little common sense.  Low costs on items with are substantially more expensive here
in North America generally have a reason for the price difference.  You are sacrificing something for the low cost:

No Safety Standards
Low quality materials
Low QA/Testing
High failure rates
Infected Software
No warranty

You can buy some pretty good copies of things, but generally they always fall short on the quality of the software/firmware (or materials).
Even the simplest things like components purchased from China, terminal blocks for example, you can get great pricing on
them but the plastics used on the screw housings are brittle and cheap.  I learn everyday the things you CAN and CANNOT buy from
China 

As for a $17 watch, a 'Smart' one, I'd say pass (other than wanting to mess around with it - possibly hack the firmware).
On a side note tho:  I've got some outrageously good deals on quartz analog watches that are copies of Breitling, etc
for $20-$40 range, that were made very well...

You win some you lose some, but I definitely don't trust Chinese gear not to have a back door/software hacks.

Interesting post tho - I considered buying one for fun last year, but never considered the risks of hooking it to my Smartphone. 

[HAL-42b]

No Safety Standards
Low quality materials
Low QA/Testing
High failure rates
Infected Software
No warranty

Sounds like something with "Proudly made in the US of A" printed on it, perhaps except the safety standards thing. 

[Fungus]

in North America generally have a reason for the price difference.

"Middle men"

"Dealer markup"

Or maybe you thought stuff sold in the USA is actually manufactured in the USA.

You are sacrificing something for the low cost:

No Safety Standards
Low quality materials
Low QA/Testing
High failure rates
Infected Software
No warranty

I'm pretty sure those aren't the reasons.

Not everything made in China is total garbage. Obviously if you pay $17 for a smart watch you're not going to get much (duh!)

Not everything made in China is total garbage. If you pay a few bucks more you can get the same stuff they sell in the USA but much cheaper. eg. Try paying $99 for a smart watch, see what you get then.

[zapta]

>>  Topic: $17 smartwatch sends something to random Chinese IP address

No worry. The 1000$ apple watch does exactly the same. Except it'S a random US IP, which is much worse for data privacy.

There are valid reason for a device or app calling home. For example, registering an end point for user notification, checking for updates, fetching customized configuration, and so on. As usual the devil is in the details such as proper disclosure, granularity of opt out, dataset transferred, data retention policy and usage of the uploaded data.

We live in a very complex world and different people have different preference for the balance between user experience, cost and privacy. This product seems to target people that focus on low cost. Apple is subject to law suites and has deep pockets so probably more focus on privacy.

BTW, I doubt that the IP in this case is 'random'.

[tooki]

I'd assume it's something on the 17.x.x.x network, which is Apple's /24 network. (Apple has so many IPs that in the old days, when Apple only had 100 retail stores or so, they used the store number as the /8 octet, and every demo machine on the floor had its own static I address! I can only assume they had to abandon this once they had stores numbered higher than 254!)