Austin, TX — Texas is going through a massive heatwave, and energy companies have asked their customers to conserve energy and raise the temperatures on their thermostats… but with some customers, they aren’t asking.
Per USA Today and Business Insider, a company called EnergyHub, which partners with power companies to monitor energy consumption, is remotely accessing some customers’ Smart Devices to turn up the temperature in people’s homes without their express consent.
One family reportedly woke up sweating to find their thermostat had been adjusted to 78° Fahrenheit, but none of the family members had moved the dial.
EnergyHub claims innocence by saying these customers opted in to the “Smart Savers Texas” program, which gives the company permission to access their customers’ Smart thermostats at any time, in exchange for an entry in a sweepstakes contest.
What’s unclear is whether the language for this agreement was in the fine print and whether participants know what they agreed to.
EnergyHub did not notify customers when they adjusted the thermostats, either.
This incident highlights potential safety and privacy concerns that come with “Smart” technology.
Once devices are tethered to the internet, they are open to manipulation from outside sources, voluntary or not.
The convenience of technology can come at a price, especially when people aren’t given the full details upon consent.
The Smart Savers Texas program likely does notify participants in one form or another of what they are agreeing to. However, it’s clear that many customers had no idea they had signed up for thermostat manipulation.
One EnergyHub customer expressed safety concerns as well, citing a three-month-old child who lives in the house who could have overheated. Again, the Texas Energy Company accepts no fault.
Programs of a similar variety are popping up all over the place.
Just recently, Amazon informed customers with Echo devices that they would automatically enroll in a “bandwidth” sharing program that takes a slice of the internet from users and shares it with their neighbors.
Echo users have to deliberately unenroll to be taken off of the program.
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President Trump will return soon and straighten out all of the Biden screwups !
Yay. I feel like I have lost my freedom! HMA. tHEY ARE FEEDING HIS BRAIN – PLUS PERHAPS HE IS CONSULTING OBAMA’S OLD RECORDS AND EMULATINBG THEM. IN OTHER WORDS, i WONDER IF HIS EMPTY BRAIN IS BEING FED BY OTHERS.
I hope and pray that Pres. Trump will return to the Oval Office, but do not put your faith in Pres. Trump, nor any other man. No president nor even the United States Armed Forces can save that which has been given over for destruction.
Please, do not be so foolish to believe that the U.S. is some how more worthy of God’s protection than others. Yes, God’s hand of protection has been over the United States for many, many years; but that protection started fading away in the 1920s or so when we allowed the teaching of evolution over creation in our universities, and even more so with the acceptance of homosexuality, and with the Supreme Court’s approval of the Roe vs. Wade Bill our fate was sealed, though our all-knowing God Himself knew this was coming over two thousand years ago.
The worldly protector of Israel will soon be destroyed, and the advancement of the End Times prophecies will bring all the armies of the world to surround the army of Israel on the Plains of Megiddo for the greatest of all Battles, Armageddon, in seven short years.
Yeshua, the Christ is the only one who will save those that repent of their sins and trust God’s gift of Salvation.
Yet cant adjust for power surges etc statewide, Fix this TX now bad scene
Ever hear of smart meters? They were installed by the power companies several years ago without our consent. Better yet install a wood heater in your home and get some firewood, a propane light, a kerosene light and a big tent would also be good to have on hand.
What a great reason to shun all *SMART* technology. These devices can be centrally remote-controlled, hacked and steered by bad actors playing ‘tin god.’ It will only get worse. A real ugly thought: most of our modern autos are also computerized.