When you replace a vacuum robot's proprietary brain with open-source firmware, you are not just modifying a device—you are

Why I Make Smart Devices Dumber: A Privacy Advocate's Reflection

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2025-01-18 14:00:12

When you replace a vacuum robot's proprietary brain with open-source firmware, you are not just modifying a device—you are making a statement about ownership and control. Sometimes the smartest choice is to make devices dumber.

I flipped the vacuum robot upside down on my desk, wheels in the air. A thousand dollar marvel of modern, rebranded AliExpress convenience. Ready to map my home, learn my patterns, and send data across continents. Behind every promise of convenience lie hidden costs we're only beginning to understand.

My screwdriver hovered on its seams: These robots are not just about cleaning floors anymore, but drawing a line in the digital sand.

In the rush to embrace smart devices, you accept a devil's bargain: convenience for surveillance, efficiency for privacy. Homes become frontiers in the attention wars—each gadget a potential Trojan horse of data collection, promising easier lives.

The DIY movement has evolved far beyond fixing broken toasters. Some, like the devs of Valetudo, are digital rights advocates armed with soldering irons and software. Their work challenges the invisible monopolies that shape our relationship with technology. They're not just fixing devices: They are liberating those from adware and behavioral data harvesting. Each freed device marks a small victory in a conflict most people don't even realize they're in.