Homeowner baffled after washing machine uses 3.6GB of internet data a day

This particular homeowner is baffled that anyone would buy a washing machine that needs an internet connection. I'm all for smart appliances, but a smart washing machine is a solution in search of a problem.

This is an old article and iirc this was a reporting issue with their router. The wash machine was not using that much data.

This nonsense keeps getting reposted, when it was discovered previously it was a router reporting error

Why the fuck does my appliance need wifi? It's not ordering refills for consumables when low at a great discount nor is it going to schedule it's own maintenance as it passes lifetime milestones or detects errors.

I don't want my fucking washer/dryer to text me when the load is done and I definitely don't want my fridge to alert me I'm low on milk or bread, or the door is open. That's such a huge backdoor for anyone looking to maliciously gather data and peer into my life, definitely without my consent.

Glad I bought a non-smart washer and dryer. I've yet to encounter any situation in life where I thought, "too bad my appliance doesn't have Internet". Not once ever.

Botnet node? 3GB sounds excessive even for a company that's notoriously invasive.

When your washing machine tries to download Baldurs Gate 3 because it’s bored too

Data laundry.

I find the idea of "downloading new wash programs" to be absurd.

Now the Chinese government knows exactly how many socks have gone missing, but no it won't tell you where they all went.

If you put any of these things on your wifi add them to your parental control settings that most routers have. Restrict what it can access and what times it allowed to connect to the internet.

I dunno, isn't the homeowner an idiot for putting a smart washer on WiFi in the first place? We don't need smart devices, they aren't making our lives better.

You already have a phone in your hand just put an alarm on there. There are you eliminated the supposed use of internet on a washer.

Solution in search of a problem.

I guess a mobile alert that lets you know the cycle is finished could be handy? Ability to schedule a load to start later? Maybe a maintenance or problem alert? Depleted detergent and fabric softener reservoir?

Possibly an energy usage chart for the nerds out there who like that kind of thing?

But damn, all of that shouldn't need more than a few kb a day max.

If you think the useless appliances are bad, just take a look at more critical connected devices.

I needed some POE security cameras, found some foscam ones on the cheap. Plug them up, go to IP, "install our app"... was pleased to find it allowed a local account without the need for an email, but found that half of my network traffic was comprised of requests to their "ivyIOT AI detection". I didnt measure what data was going through before sectioning them behind a firewall zone.

My fault for not having looked further into other brands, they were still a bargain and work without issue with my setup, but annoying

Homeowner should be baffled at why he was

Stupid enough to waste money on a fucking internet connected washing machine
Stupid enough to connect it to the fucking internet
Stupid enough to be surprised at it doing shady shit.

I would imagine that someone might have compromised the washing machine and used it as part of a botnet to attack another system. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that washing machine companies might not be the most-proactive at pushing security updates.

I have a supposedly smart washing machine that came with the apartment. Setting it up in my locked down appliances network, it didn't work with home-assistant, required cloud access and wanted me to open up ports in the firewall. Nope. No network connection for you. You are a regular dumb old washing machine.

I just bought a new dishwasher and it came with "smart" features like remote start and notifications, which I don't want. Easy solution: I didn't connect it to my wifi.

On the positive side, the manufacturer (Bosch) wasn't pushy about it at all. The only indication that the machine has smart features was a small instruction card, which I promptly tossed in the recycling.

This is the best summary I could come up with:

A tech-savvy San Francisco resident has sparked conversation online after he shared a perplexing discovery about his LG washing machine's seemingly voracious appetite for data on X (formerly Twitter).

The connection to a Wi-Fi network allows the user to operate functions from a smartphone, download additional wash programs, and receive alerts when a load is complete.

Results found that smart washing machines are collecting a significant amount of user data, including personal information such as date of birth, location, and even access to photos.

article said that LG washing machines require users to provide their date of birth to use the associated app, while Samsung and Miele request access to photos and location data.

Lee is keen to embrace technological advances in everyday life but was baffled by the behavior of the washing machine and shared what he had found on X, hoping to prompt a laugh or two with his followers.

The unexpected attention prompted a wave of reactions and jokes, touching on issues including AI, bitcoin, privacy, downloadable content (DLC), and the ever-growing impact of technology on our lives.

The original article contains 553 words, the summary contains 181 words. Saved 67%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

I have the circuits for all my "dumb" appliances monitored by my homeassistant. Then HA sends notifications to my phone. And it doesn't need to send 3.6GB to the internet to do it.

At this point I suspect that washing machine vendors are running botnets themselves. People won’t care anyway what happens with their appliances without consent anyway.

Gotta transfer all your dirt.

Man that laundry must be heavy

Laundering Bitcoins

having lots of networked devices means your life depends on a lot of network programmers

r/nottheonion moment

My drier and whole house heater mines crypto while it's heating lol. That was my dream.

But now I got this washer instead. It comes with default chacka chacka and spin slowly and black hole modes. I think I'm gonna get the new wacka wacka washing mode and the one where you can play music through the motor.

That's a big load! I hope I got enough ram!

😏