this post was submitted on 24 Feb 2025
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Removing Jeff Bezos From My Bed ◆ Truffle Security Co. (trufflesecurity.com)
submitted 6 months ago by Alphane_Moon@lemmy.world to c/hardware@lemmy.world
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[–] Alphane_Moon@lemmy.world 20 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (2 children)

I was willing to overlook:

  • The bed costs $2,000

  • It won’t function if the internet goes down

  • Basic features are behind an additional $19/mo subscription

  • The bed’s only controls are via mobile app

You have to be crazy to pay for a product like this. You don't need to be a security researcher to make an educated guess that the company behind this "bed" is going to spy on you.

Eight Sleep is clearly onto something, having raised $110 million dollars in venture capital, exceeding $300 million dollars in annual revenue.

I would have never thought this Eight Sleep outfit had hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue.

[–] nickwitha_k@lemmy.sdf.org 13 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (2 children)

I just looked at their Privacy Policy/ToS.

EDIT: Accidentally hit post.

Anyway, based on their terms, the customer data is definitely the actual product. In addition, the wording makes it seem likely that the de-identification is pretty weak.

Further details that should give anyone pause.

Admitting to not respecting "Do Not Track" signals, because they are not legally required to:

Mention of collecting data about gender at birth, whether one regularly sleeps with a partner, and menstrual cycle regularity:

These guys are creepy as fuck, without even getting to the possible backdoor. They are selling customer data with a contractual pinky-swear to not re-identify the data (this being mentioned, to me, means that there is a plausible means to do so). So.

What kind of creepiness could this data be used for?

  • Potential for blackmail/kompromat. (using sensors to detect patterns of sexual activity that could be infidelity or "sexual deviancy")

  • Targeting people who may have had abortions.

  • Signs of not following religious doctrine (premarital sex, sex for purpose other than procreation, etc)

  • Checking whether the person is home and likely sleeping.

  • Spying on employees during their off-work hours (not that it's ok during work hours) and/or scrutinizing sick leave.

There are a lot more possibilities. Way too dystopian and creepy.

[–] Alphane_Moon@lemmy.world 4 points 6 months ago

Trash company with a trash CEO. Until we start treating digital privacy on the same level as physical privacy, this sort of stuff will continue.

[–] Ghyste@sh.itjust.works 2 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Sounds like they're from Texas.

Edit: Nope. New York somehow.

[–] jj4211@lemmy.world 0 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Ultimately I lost this argument and I will say their pad is better designed than their competition. I love the concept of pairing that pad which is good and harmless by itself with a different temperature controller. I kind of hoped for an alternate firmware for this device, since the hardware of the temperature controller is also well done apart from lack of buttons/remote controller.

[–] Alphane_Moon@lemmy.world 5 points 6 months ago (1 children)

That's fair. I guess for me personally a "smart" bed that's also tied to mandatory subscription is an outlandish concept.

[–] jj4211@lemmy.world 1 points 6 months ago

Yeah, it was rough for me since I advocated for other options that weren't this way, but had to admit that the engineering on the eight sleep just got to a better physical experience.

FreeSleep looks promising. Currently grandfathered into the pre-subscription required reality, but fully expect that to evaporate and then it's off to do the FreeSleep stuff. I anticipate a local control loop will be so much better, and maybe be able to create tactile controls in a wifi based remote control.