Is it OK to give out home wifi password to uHoo app?

[hajime]

Hi, I got an "uHoo Indoor Air Quality Sensor – 9 in 1 Smart Air Monitor". During installation, it asked me to setup an account. Then, the app asked me to enter my home wifi password, id and give them access to location. Is it OK to do it? Will bad guys be able to do anything knowing the information?​

Guide on how to setup uHoo indoor air monitor | uHoo

Here's the setup guide on how to setup your uHoo indoor air monitoring device, From creating your uHoo account to connecting your uhoo to your Wi-Fi network.

getuhoo.com

 

[satcomer]

That sound fishy to me!

 

[hajime]

They said that they need to access location because of Apple's rule. If they know the location, home wifi name and password, what sort of bad things could they do?

 

[Blowback]

Hi, I got an "uHoo Indoor Air Quality Sensor – 9 in 1 Smart Air Monitor". During installation, it asked me to setup an account. Then, the app asked me to enter my home wifi password, id and give them access to location. Is it OK to do it? Will bad guys be able to do anything knowing the information?​

Guide on how to setup uHoo indoor air monitor | uHoo

Here's the setup guide on how to setup your uHoo indoor air monitoring device, From creating your uHoo account to connecting your uhoo to your Wi-Fi network.

getuhoo.com

I would not buy something that 'required' such info to work. Either I 'Own' it or I don't. There are some good bathroom scales that bluetooth the data to your laptop/iPhone/iPad etc.....that I passed on because they would also send the data to the scale manufacturer. This I find unacceptable. This is my health data. They have no valid reason for such data....except to compile it with other data and sell it to the highest bidder.
As for what 'bad guys' would do with such info.....thats just it...'bad guys' don't advertise their plans or schemes. And since the 'good guys (ha!)' will sell such data to anyone who makes an offer..... (insert snake eating its tail).

 

[man2019]

Yes, it’s fine. That’s how all smart home products are setup. You need to connect the device to your WiFi network.

Hi, I got an "uHoo Indoor Air Quality Sensor – 9 in 1 Smart Air Monitor". During installation, it asked me to setup an account. Then, the app asked me to enter my home wifi password, id and give them access to location. Is it OK to do it? Will bad guys be able to do anything knowing the information?​

Guide on how to setup uHoo indoor air monitor | uHoo

Here's the setup guide on how to setup your uHoo indoor air monitoring device, From creating your uHoo account to connecting your uhoo to your Wi-Fi network.

getuhoo.com

 

[hajime]

Am I correct that to access my home wifi network, they need to be near my home to do it? So the most they can do damage is to sell the info to somebody in my city and those bad guys come near my home to access the network and steal data?

 

[0128672]

Unless you'd feel comfortable handing out your login and password to strangers on the street, I wouldn't give it to any company either. It's secure information you need to keep private.

 

[Nhwhazup]

Am I correct that to access my home wifi network, they need to be near my home to do it? So the most they can do damage is to sell the info to somebody in my city and those bad guys come near my home to access the network and steal data?

I don’t think this is true as I can see the live Ring cameras and my home cloud drive when towns away from home.

 

[SigEp265]

Don't a lot of products do this ? Such as Wyze, etc. ?

 

[rpmurray]

Don't a lot of products do this ? Such as Wyze, etc. ?

A lot of products are also harvesting data about you without letting you know, and then selling that to scammers and other unsavory folks.

 

[davidg4781]

Is this a HomeKit device? Maybe that’s why it needs location access?

As for the WiFi password, doesn’t it need that to connect to your WiFi?

 

[hajime]

I don’t think this is true as I can see the live Ring cameras and my home cloud drive when towns away from home.

Is IP address required to do that?

 

[adrianlondon]

You've bought a device that needs to connect to your WiFi. How's it gonna do that if you don't tell it the name of the network and password? Most devices have no keyboards, so you have to bluetooth to it from a mobile app and send the info that way.

You could probably refuse the location info unless it also needs to get any local info such as weather in order to do whatever it is that it does.

 

[hajime]

You've bought a device that needs to connect to your WiFi. How's it gonna do that if you don't tell it the name of the network and password? Most devices have no keyboards, so you have to bluetooth to it from a mobile app and send the info that way.

You could probably refuse the location info unless it also needs to get any local info such as weather in order to do whatever it is that it does.

From the link I provided, they said that it is Apple's requirement that I need to give them location info during the setup process. So refusal means I cannot use their product.

 

[gecko579]

Suggest you connect your Internet of Things (IoT) devices to a separate network on your router. Most routers come with a “guest” network Which can and should have a different PW than your (main) home network.

 

[ruka.snow]

Put it on your guest network or a virtual network. IOT devices don't belong on your main network, especially not snake oil ones. Most routers will let you set up at least a main network and a guest network. More advanced models will let you set up a special 2.4 GHz network with its own password that is just for IOT toys.

 

[Le Big Mac]

You've bought a device that needs to connect to your WiFi. How's it gonna do that if you don't tell it the name of the network and password? Most devices have no keyboards, so you have to bluetooth to it from a mobile app and send the info that way.

You could probably refuse the location info unless it also needs to get any local info such as weather in order to do whatever it is that it does.

Right. I've had this question for a thermostat app to set up the thermostat to connect to Wifi and HomeKit.

I think the important question here is whether the request is in the app itself so that it can connect or whether the password is transmitted to the company.

The way the question was posed in the app I was using (Mysa) was for the app to provide the wifi password to the thermostat, not to send it to the company. I suppose a nefarious product could of course transmit the wifi password to the company . . .

 

[mw360]

From the link I provided, they said that it is Apple's requirement that I need to give them location info during the setup process. So refusal means I cannot use their product.

Any WiFi enabled device can figure out its own location as soon as it’s on the internet. Their justification for needing this is very clunky, but there’s no point withholding it.

Giving them your date of birth when you sign up for an account, however…lol, just no.