"I thought the house would take care of me but instead it asked me to do things"

[cdev]

This is an interesting article.

"In "The House that Spied on Me," Kashmir Hill outfits her home to be as
"smart" as possible and writes about the results". 

https://gizmodo.com/the-house-that-spied-on-me-1822429852


“Our TV is watching us?” he asked, surprised, even though he’d been the one to connect the TV to the router surveilling us. “Wow, I forgot.”

[IanMacdonald]

There is already an analysis of how an existing smart meter can tell what TV channels or DVDs you watch by noting changes in electricity consumption during bright/dark scenes and matching these to known patterns. Only works on displays with variable backlights of course.  That is without the TV being a smart appliance.

[Neomys Sapiens]

Oh my. Must we have a power line jammer too? Nice idea.

[Halcyon]

There is already an analysis of how an existing smart meter can tell what TV channels or DVDs you watch by noting changes in electricity consumption during bright/dark scenes and matching these to known patterns. Only works on displays with variable backlights of course.  That is without the TV being a smart appliance.

In a "perfect" world, yes, sure. However most houses don't just have the television running. There are plenty of other appliances running which will cause that kind of "fingerprint" to become invalid. Computers, fridges, lights, pumps, amps/speakers, fans, air conditioning...

[julianhigginson]

There's some smart metering tech right now that is very intelligent...

I'm thinking of an article I read on one, that was developed by ex SDR(I think) guys and using techniques from that field in relation to unpicking a bunch of close RF signals, that let them detect all sorts of devices from a single mains feed into a building.

If they can unpick the tv power draw from everything else, it shouldn't be hard to then detect the station with another step.

Now I'm going to have to go find that article....

[TheWelly888]

I stopped when I read that she connected her sex toy to the internet!!

[Cerebus]

In a "perfect" world, yes, sure. However most houses don't just have the television running. There are plenty of other appliances running which will cause that kind of "fingerprint" to become invalid. Computers, fridges, lights, pumps, amps/speakers, fans, air conditioning...

Not really. There are a limited number of TV channel 'signatures' that you would be searching for. Just as a lock-in amplifier can pull a signal out from below the noise floor, because it 'knows' something about the signal, the same applies here and it would be possible to pick the characteristic effects of a particular channel out of confounding power line noise.

[T3sl4co1l]

I stopped when I read that she connected her sex toy to the internet!!

My friend who often snoops around with a Pineapple says he finds a lot of, *ahem*, suspicious clients / access points.

Well, he watches Wifi APs, MACs, BT, whatever.  I forget if it's Pineapple specifically, but needless to say, a lot of people don't realize how much private information they're leaking over the public airwaves.

Though in some cases, I wouldn't be surprised if some do so intentionally.  It might be an interesting exercise to walk around big city streets carrying a transmitter for many of those devices.  See if anyone walking by has a... reaction.  It may well be their intent; some people are like that.

Tim

[jmelson]

In a "perfect" world, yes, sure. However most houses don't just have the television running. There are plenty of other appliances running which will cause that kind of "fingerprint" to become invalid. Computers, fridges, lights, pumps, amps/speakers, fans, air conditioning...

Not really. There are a limited number of TV channel 'signatures' that you would be searching for. Just as a lock-in amplifier can pull a signal out from below the noise floor, because it 'knows' something about the signal, the same applies here and it would be possible to pick the characteristic effects of a particular channel out of confounding power line noise.

A LOT of people are using internet TV services, so they could be watching Youtube or one of thousands of digital cable channels of video on demand programs, at least in the US.  So, I really DOUBT this "limited number of TV channel signatures".  Of course, the info could EASILY be gotten out of the ISP.

Jon

[Cerebus]

A LOT of people are using internet TV services, so they could be watching Youtube or one of thousands of digital cable channels of video on demand programs, at least in the US.  So, I really DOUBT this "limited number of TV channel signatures".  Of course, the info could EASILY be gotten out of the ISP.

Jon

Well exactly. It's only of interest for over the air TV channels (which is a reasonably bounded set) because if you're hacking their smart meter, or measuring by direct attachment to the power line then either scenario means you're also in prime position to MITM their internet access.

[beenosam]

I stopped when I read that she connected her sex toy to the internet!!

That's quite a thing for her to admit...for science.