The irony of Mozilla being concerned with industry practices around privacy. Rather hypocritical considering their majority funding source.

Checked Alarm’s privacy policy on their website… and it’s kind of sketch. The big ol’ “Privacy” link takes you to a page basically saying “We don’t sell your info”, which OK, cool.

However, scroll all the way to the bottom, and there’s another privacy section. That one details what they do with info using their service.

Quick Bing AI summary:

Alarm.com’s Privacy Policy outlines how they handle your personal information when you use their services. Here’s a summary in plain English:

Information Collection:
    Alarm.com collects and stores Personal Information from or about you. This includes details that can be used to uniquely contact, identify, or locate you.
    When using the User Interfaces (such as their website or mobile apps), you may provide Personal Information like your name, address, phone number, email, location, or zip code.
    Additionally, when using their Services, you or your Authorized Service Provider may provide additional information (e.g., home or business details, system configuration, sensor names, etc.) to personalize your experience.

Types of Data Collected:
    Performance data from security devices monitored by Alarm.com.
    Electrical usage, heating/cooling information, light settings, and more.
    Alert logs and other relevant data.

Purpose of Data Collection:
    To provide you with the best interactive security, energy management, video monitoring, automation, and wellness services.
    Personalization of services based on the information you provide.
    Alarm.com may also receive data from their partners (like emergency contact info) to enhance their services1.

Remember that data privacy practices may vary based on your region and use of the app2. Always review the full privacy policy for complete details1. If you have specific concerns, consider reaching out to Alarm.com directly for clarification.’

As reasonable the concerns are… it seems like there’s quite a bit of fearmongering over software and hardware that haven’t even really gotten into the mainstream yet.

I used to blame my cousin, as she has a raging drug addiction and does shady crap like steal people’s credit cards/checks and it was only after she had been over that I had noticed. But nope, still going despite time and resets. If I knew a way of pulling login info off the TV, I’d probably share it, because hell, why not.

I’m thankful Roku has had data breaches. Mostly because I have a Roku TV that was somehow compromised and now, even after a couple of years and several full factory resets, whoever used my throwaway account signed up for all the streaming services at the highest tier. Hard to be mad when I havent had to pay for anything.

And no, before anyone says anything, it’s not putting my home network at risk, as it’s just the Roku account that’s compromised. Nothing tied to me personally, not even a card/address on the account, so I just chalk it up to “as long as it keeps working, Im not worrying about it”.

Seeing this statement makes me wonder - would Proton’s ecosystem be considered a juicier target for data, with thinking along the lines of “people adopt proton to have more privacy. Are they more likely to transmit more sensitive data because they think it’s more private?”

Wish I would have seen this game on release… looks like something I would definitely have gotten into. Love that the team basically took an old-school UT mod and progressed it to a standalone that’s still actively being developed.

Dig Dug, Battlezone (the wireframe “3d” tank game), and C&C Red Alert 2. Those 3 will always live in my head rent-free, and they’re more than welcome to.