Amazon will soon share your home Wi-Fi with strangers’ devices

There’s no denying that Amazon operates the most extensive network of smart home products in the world, although using the word “network” to describe it isn’t entirely accurate just yet. However, that's about to change. All the Echo speakers and Ring security cameras out there will soon be linked in a massive mesh network beginning next Tuesday, June 8th, which is when the new Amazon Sidewalk service will be turned on. This new Amazon feature allows all your Amazon smart home devices to share your home WI-Fi with Amazon gadgets that belong to strangers. The feature is meant to improve coverage and increase security, offering devices an additional network connection to fall back to if the primary internet service becomes unavailable.

As secure as Sidewalk may be, Amazon has had some privacy mishaps in the past that were related to Echo devices. With that in mind, allowing strange devices to use your Wi-Fi network might sound worrisome to some people. But Amazon Sidewalk is an optional feature, meaning that any Echo and Ring product owners can opt out of it and ensure their devices will not share their Wi-Fi connection with other Amazon devices in the neighborhood. You'll have to be proactive if you don't want your devices to be a part of the Sidewalk service, however, because it will automatically be enabled by default.