Website autoplays a video with audio on. Cannot stress enough how that should never ever happen.

I guess this sorta thing still needs to be repeated, but it's literally every retail product or service you buy that connects to the internet. The article covers some, but not all.

I hate when that happens on mobile, do they think people have infinite data??

Annoying. There must be a browser setting or extension for that.

There is for both desktop and mobile Firefox.

Yah. And in almost no cases does that technically need to be the case. It just actually is the case. Surveillance capitalism. It's common now the company makes more money from your data than from selling you the device. Even for big ticket devices like cars!

Companies are also very, very good at making people want it. I advise my friends against giving their new IoT shiny any internet access. I am rarely successful. You all know how it goes. "I don't have anything to hide."

Offline single purpose devices still work fine. I have two digital cameras, big and small, that use a USB cable to my PC. An unconnected mp3 player. An alarm clock with no connectivity that isn't a phone app, it's a thing with a big ole snooze button. It wakes me up fine.

not to mention that it’s annoying that it stops my music from playing.

FYI, it doesn't auto play tha video (I hate what that happens) using Waterfox, a Firefox fork, with uBlock Origin.

The only spyware we own are our phones and we completely distrust them, barely using them for what we’re required to use (security apps, and pro apps, stuff like that). At home there is no TV (would there be one, it would not be a smart one and if would there be no alternative it would just be a computer screen), no smart appliances, not even one of those hellish doorbells, or light bulbs. Our computers are wired to the network and the WiFi is off (we really barely use our phones) unless we have a specific need and it's temporarily turned on.

What really worry us, my spouse and I, is the realization that sooner than later, we won't have the choice of not using spyware riddled device anymore, as there will not be any alternative left.

Maybe it is not that huge of a deal for ourselves, we are getting old enough to not worry about buying the latest whatever, we also already focus a lot of our attention on analog tools and analog/low tech ways of doing things. But it still is a real worry.

Even more so for I (my spouse will surely tell you I’m kinda paranoid, but she is wrong she may even be part of their attempts at keeping me silent :p), as I have little doubt legal spyware could be enforced upon us by governments, say:

• to ‘protect children’ by monitoring real time what’s going on in the privacy of our homes. And since all citizen must be treated equally under the law (save members of said governments and their powerful friends), even homes without children would be submitted to that ‘protective measure’.
• to ‘protect the environment’ and ‘fight climate change’, say, by closely monitoring all our activities energy-wise (to reduce wasted energy). Monitoring it closely enough that they would also be able to precisely know what we do, and when.
• to reduce health risk and the health deficit too. Here again, by closely monitoring the things we buy and eat, what we drink, what we do and when… all in the hame of tracking what would jeopardize our health… and make us cost extra money to the society. And that would be made a lot simpler, and so much more tempting, like a lot, the moment we switch to a fully digital currency: no cash? no anonymity anymore.

Dear citizen,
One of our algorithms noticed your purchased a cake two hours ago and your real time Health Companion noticed after your latest pee that your sugar level was too high. Reaching a level that matches the exact sugar intake of that cake. . This goes against your medical condition. As a result:
Since it is a 333 Calories intake above your scientifically allowed daily food intake we will take back those 333 Calories from your next daily allowance.
Since it was your second time violating the Happy Healthy Habits program you agreed to by using our the mandatory Happy Health Department insurance, we will hold 50 times the cost of the cake from your wallet.
If you were to ever violate that rule again you will be definitely suspended from all benefits, your employer will be notified and required to withhold any advancement or promotion, and your entire wealth will be confiscated to reimburse the cost such egoistical behaviors like yours cost to the collectivity, and to the planet.
There will be no further warning.
Be happy, be healthy.
Your caring partner from the Happy Health Department.

Very well written.

thank you :)

Every single Corp does that constantly. It doesn't matter if it is hardware or software, if there are a way into your secrets, Corporate freaks will take it.

My nVidia Shield TV spies on me. That's it.

is the realization that sooner than later, we won’t have the choice of not using spyware riddled device anymore, as there will not be any alternative left.

I too worry about this. Right now surveillance is so profitable that it gets built into even the lowest end models of devices. It can be difficult or impossible to disable.

What gives me a little hope is the 10% principle. If privacy minded people hold just 1% market share, we can be ignored. We are not a market force. If we can get 10% of our population to prioritize privacy and security when buying tech products, we become a market segment too big to ignore. Thereby it is important for all of us to reach out to our friends, family and neighbors, to help them understand why privacy matters. And what we all lose when we give it up.

or light bulbs

So that no one thinks you are engaging in hyperbole -> https://www.pandasecurity.com/en/mediacenter/smart-lightbulbs-spy/