Well... you're not paranoid if they really are out to get you. Personally, my home automation is pretty secure. I suppose, if someone knew what I named my lights, they could scream loudly through the window with an amplified megaphone and turn on my hallway lights or turn up my thermostat. I am not going to lose sleep over it.
My garage door is on Wifi, but not controlled by Wink. Wink will generate an alert I'd it is open more than 15 minutes. The rest of it is thermostat and lights for me. I am not too worried.
Including a pump shut-off is the way to go with a well since there are failure modes which leave the pump running against a closed valve or other blockage since the pressure switch is calling for water. I had it happen with a frozen line between the well and the pressure tank. Obviously all failures can't be planned for without spending a ton of money but a relay tied to a shut-off valve is pretty simple. Run timers are also handy in this application since a well shouldn't run continuously for hours.
Yeah, that is a feature I will never use... sometimes technology gets misapplied. Kids placing orders was only a matter of time. I hadn't heard about the proxy ordering by television, but I suspect there was some confirmation required that didn't happen, but still funny.
The article says that you can turn on a feature that would require entering a 4-digit code for purchases. But then you would need to walk over to the Echo and enter it! Or maybe you could speak the numbers...
You would have to speak or enter it through the app. Echo only has two buttons.
If you spoke the numbers, you would need to be out of earshot of the kids in the house or they would catch on real fast, LOL.
Right... not every idea is a good one and placing orders through the Echo is one I rank up there with New Coke. It is creating more problems than it solves.
