New firmware 5.8.1

[encol]

Originally Posted by Galunid

- Wifi password bank, so you can use it on other amazon devices

Originally Posted by NullNix

Worse yet, nobody who's installed the update has reported the existence of a way to turn this terrible, security-violating nightmare of an option off.

This. Is. Evil.
And it seems illegal

[knc1]

Originally Posted by encol

This. Is. Evil.
And it seems illegal

If it was covered by financial security laws, it probably would be.
But it isn't.

So don't share the password with any entity (person or corporate).

If it can't be avoided in the software - complain to Amazon.

[geekmaster]

Originally Posted by knc1

If it was covered by financial security laws, it probably would be.
But it isn't.

So don't share the password with any entity (person or corporate).

If it can't be avoided in the software - complain to Amazon.

Or don't bother using a password, in which case, no worries, eh?

Most wifi routers are compromised anyway, and google harvested massive amounts of raw wifi packets when they did their street view photos. Those can be wifi passwords (and encrypted data) can be decrypted and viewed in the future, if any local event draws sufficient attention, resourceful organizations can study your old wifi traffic. Amazon harvesting your wifi passwords is just a drop in ocean.

Yes, they not only record RF emissions now (including wifi), I was told by an old-coworker (hopefully not confidentially) who once worked for the NSA, that even in the 70's during the Vietnam war, every major American city had a warehouse full of video tape recorders (modified to not require video sync pulses) each recording their own 4-MHz slice of the entire RF spectrum. At any time later, they could output the recorded "video" signal into a communications receiver, and tune into radio traffic of the past, if something drew their attention to a particular event they wanted to investigate. I still believe what he told me, because we had the technology and the NSA had the budget and desire. These days they are the largest consumer of hard drives, by far, and they claim that having AIs monitor your private communications does not violate any privacy laws (as if they care anyway, according to Snowden).

And regarding Google, I got to sit in one of their self-driving cars. I should post the 3D photo, eh?

[encol]

Originally Posted by knc1

If it was covered by financial security laws, it probably would be.
But it isn't.

Without owner's consent?

However, perhaps a script i made some time ago can be useful: it allow to connect to known networks without storing passwords in kindle's wifi manager

[geekmaster]

Originally Posted by encol

Without owner's consent?

However, perhaps a script i made some time ago can be useful: it allow to connect to known networks without storing passwords in kindle's wifi manager

Without consent? In America? You must be kidding! We have the best laws (corporate) money can buy. I have no idea about Italy though...

I will need to checkout your script, but physical labor (car repair) looms on the near horizon. You cannot do that from a keyboard (yet).

[knc1]

I wrote Amazon about this password bank thing of 5.8.1

Will post their reply (if any) when I receive it.

[Waitingforatrain]

Originally Posted by knc1

I wrote Amazon about this password bank thing of 5.8.1

Will post their reply (if any) when I receive it.

Is this any different than, say, Google storing android device wifi passwords and other app info in the cloud to be used on other android devices?

[Yourcat]

Android allows to disable this feature. Changing the SSID and password of all devices weekly may be a good idea. Or one could use a transparent HTTP proxy and break up SSL for unknown targets, ad and tracking servers.
Google may or may not use the account password to (de)crypt the wifi key.

[geekmaster]

Sadly, most routers have vulnerabilities letting you crack their encryption if you harvest enough data, and many use a default encryption key based on the broadcast MAC address in metadata that is not even encrypted. Google has a huge amount of raw wifi traffic they harvested while doing their Street View "drive-by"s (which have much higher resolution photos taken much closer together, which they do NOT share with the public). Except in countries like Germany, perhaps, but certainly in the US, google can see what we were doing on wifi when they drove by.

And BTW, in a Google Street view image of my house awhile ago, I could see somebody standing next to a side window (far from the street), leaning against it with hands over eyebrows (to block reflections) and looking inside our house -- creepy...

[Deahna]

Originally Posted by NullNix

Worse yet, nobody who's installed the update has reported the existence of a way to turn this terrible, security-violating nightmare of an option off.

From what I could make out so far, you set the option for each WiFi as you enter the password for the first time. It gives me two options - I have to quote the German words but will try to translate:
Passwort ausblenden (blank out password)
Passwort auf Amazon speichern (save password on Amazon)
On my Voyage neither has a tick right now so no sync should happen.

What I can't see is what happens to the Wifi password already saved on the device from before the update. But perhaps one of you can find out?

[rashkae]

Originally Posted by Deahna

From what I could make out so far, you set the option for each WiFi as you enter the password for the first time. It gives me two options - I have to quote the German words but will try to translate:
Passwort ausblenden (blank out password)
Passwort auf Amazon speichern (save password on Amazon)
On my Voyage neither has a tick right now so no sync should happen.

What I can't see is what happens to the Wifi password already saved on the device from before the update. But perhaps one of you can find out?

This question is answered right on the Kindle if you bother to press the "Learn More" link.

FAQ #4: Did previous passwords entered on this device get saved to my Amazon Account if I did not select the option to Save Passwords to Amazon?

(Short Answer, No)

I hate to say it, but it looks like Amazon really impleted this feature right. Not only is it opt in only, but it has to be opt in for each password individually.

[NullNix]

Originally Posted by rashkae

I hate to say it, but it looks like Amazon really impleted this feature right. Not only is it opt in only, but it has to be opt in for each password individually.

Oh good! I hoped something like that would be true: I just expected it wouldn't be, because violating privacy is the Web 2.0 Way.

(If there was indeed no way to turn this off, I'd planned to avoid the problem by setting up a new wireless network sitting atop a VLAN with access only to Amazon and Wikipedia netblocks and a thin hole to an IP address providing the Kindle with recursive DNS, and giving the Kindle the password for that network.)

[knc1]

Originally Posted by Waitingforatrain

Is this any different than, say, Google storing android device wifi passwords and other app info in the cloud to be used on other android devices?

According to the reply, it is.

Amazon does not use encrypted cloud storage, Google does.