How To Opt Out of Amazon Sidewalk

Learning how to opt out and how to turn off Amazon Sidewalk will keep your network bandwidth to your own devices. The whole idea of sharing a portion of your network with complete strangers isn’t the best idea the technology behemoth has had, although it’s a great idea on paper.

In an age where smart homes are on the rise, people are questioning their online security and trust more than ever, which is a good thing. So having your doorbell providing a WiFi signal to complete strangers has alarm bells ringing for Sidewalk compatible device owners worldwide.

Justin Brookman, director of technology policy for Consumer Reports gives his take on Sidewalk, which is pretty much what everyone else is thinking:

“Amazon is helping themselves to your network without asking permission, co-opting the bandwidth that you pay for. Amazon apparently doesn’t think that enough people would turn this on on their own, so they’ve made the decision for people in order to scale the system and get it working effectively.”

Sidewalk uses Bluetooth Low Energy technology for devices within 200ft, and a low-frequency 900MHz network for anything up to half a mile away. The data sent and received from Amazon devices are then channeled through your home network. Sidewalk enabled devices siphon around 500MB worth of data a month from your existing home network.

Here are all the current Amazon devices that are compatible with Sidewalk: