Amazon To Automatically Share Your Wi-Fi With Neighbors—Here’s How To Disable It
Image via Natee Meepian / Shutterstock.com
If you haven’t been on chummy terms with your neighbors, you might not be too excited about Amazon Sidewalk, the new service that the e-commerce giant is introducing on June 8. The feature automatically shares networks connected to your Echo and Ring devices with others in the vicinity, allowing people without internet access to hop onto your network.
As baffling as this seems, Amazon says Sidewalk could help a neighbor out when their Wi-Fi is down, or simplify the setup process of new devices. It could also alert people who are looking for their pets or valuables with their trackers in the area.
Devices connected to your Amazon Sidewalk network will receive a maximum bandwidth of 60Kbps, with a total monthly cap of 500MB. However, if you wish to opt out of this program, here’s how to do it.
If you’re using an Amazon Echo device, head over to your Amazon Alexa app and tap on ‘More’ at the bottom right corner. You’ll be able to locate and disable the Amazon Sidewalk setting under Settings > Account Settings.
For Ring devices, tap the three-lined menu icon in the Ring app and head over to Control Center > Amazon Sidewalk, where you’ll be able to opt out of the feature.
Bleeping Computer details that once Amazon Sidewalk is switched off, it will not be activated again without your permission.
[via Bleeping Computer, cover image via Natee Meepian / Shutterstock.com]
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