I Tested an HDMI Adapter That Demands Your Location and Spams You with Ads

Given that the device is plugged in, trusted, shows up as a computer, and requires external power, it has all the connections it needs spy on the screen (at minimum) and remote control the victim iPhone without permission in the worst case. (it has video feed, and can emulate USB keyboard and mouse) Yikes!

I say the big 404 and instinctively bounced. I can’t be the only one. I went back to find their 404 page and am quite satisfied with what I found: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.404media.co&#x2F;i-te&#x2F;" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.404media.co&#x2F;i-te&#x2F;</a>

So from my reading, the shitty behaviour is from the app, not the cable. Have I misread it?<p>What happens if you try to use the cable without downloading the app? I for one would assume that my cable was defective, if it needed an app to work. I realize that HDMI cables are weird, and that like quite a lot of modern interconnect are not a monolithic standard, but come with multiple support levels; I wish that would stop.<p>A standard is a standard, and market partitioning is no part of the job of a standard.

The saluspa from &quot;bestway&quot; demands your location before allowing you to setup wifi remote control of the portable hot tub on the android app. I wonder how on android I can spoof the location used by an app, or if anyone figured out if you can control it without the app.<p>I set it up away from my house and use a separate wifi network but it pissed me off.

We need to think about the role of government in regulating consumer electronics. Should the government require companies to disclose more information about the security and privacy risks of their products? Should the government ban the sale of products that pose a significant security risk?<p>The lack of transparency on the security details will take a toll on the consumers in the coming future.

I Visited a Web Site That Demands My Email Address to Spam Me With Newsletters.

This kind of shady devices should be banned in Western Countries, not only for trying to get their users&#x27; information, but also for being a device that can go directly to the e-Waste bin without a minimal usage

Would be interesting to reverse-engineer the app and find out how it works, then make an open-source version.

Shitty. I wonder what kind of profit they make per successful scam.

It&#x27;s odd that 404 Media chose a .co (Colombia) TLD.

So, a trojan device that makes the user give it basically full control over their phone, allowing a third party to do whatever the hell they want with the user&#x27;s data and accounts - and what does it actually do? Show targeted ads.<p>Truly the dumbest timeline.

And yet, we can&#x27;t have side loaded apps because somehow that would make the App Store worse. Phooey!

&gt; I decided to connect the cord using an old iPhone that I no longer use and that no longer has anything I care about on it.<p>Uh oh. Hope that means securely wiped and not just &quot;I deleted the notes and photos and put in a drawer.&quot;

Burn it with fire and wipe that iPhone twice. Stuff like that terrifies me.

I have an impression that covid enabled widespread acceptation of QR codes, and now every app is excused to request camera and photo access because &quot;we need to scan a QR code&quot;.

I always wondered how Amazon gets away with listing &quot;Apple lightning cables&quot; (and all the other scam&#x2F;junkware they list) that are not made or sold by Apple.<p>Its like they abandoned any respect for trademarks and parents and got away with it.

how long until everything on Amazon is doing this?

All the people involved in this product need a significant public award for their efforts.

Not related to this story specifically, but I&#x27;ve been very impressed with 404 media&#x27;s stories thusfar. They haven&#x27;t been around long, but they&#x27;ve already done a lot of impressive journalism. I&#x27;m glad we&#x27;ve finally got a tech media outlet with teeth.

The irony that I got two popups on this site.

Mean while a 6 year old Samsung has usbc and just works.