Is there any Privacy Respecting/Ethical hardware out there?

[lotsofsparks]

Is there any Privacy Respecting/Ethical hardware out there?

I’m a Prepper for lack of a better word and I’m anxious about a 3rd party shutting down or monitoring my Equipment. Like for instance the Government through Operating system back doors or any others that might do so acting in their on their own self interests.

Some of the reasons why I’m concerned are:-

I’ve heard of software licenses expire bricking every device on earth with the same model number.

I’ve seen first hand Microsoft altering things in my laptop needing only my product key.

I’ve watched the Australia Parliament pushing a bill ordering software developers to provide them with back doors and discussing an advanced government surveillance system called the capability.

I’ve heard of BMW and John Deer switching off hardware that people own in order to introduce Subscription based functionality.

I have concerns about geo fenced and internet dependent devices being unable to work when the internet and satellites go offline (I’ve personally had hardware malfunction due to internet drop outs and GPS jamming).

Even my JK BMS needs location services on for some reason.

Someone made a virus that activated when it found the VSDs running Iranian Nuclear centrifuges destroying them by running them at resonant frequencies.

God only knows what AI could do to us.



I want some devices smart enough to do the job without being a security threat and will work in a long term grid down situation.

I was going to ask also for suggestions for devices that isn’t engineered to limit service life or be unrepairable through planned obsolescence, Even though all this existed once it seems it has become a bit of a tall order in 2023.



I’m looking for Solar and UPS/inverter Equipment as well as a BMS with monitoring and a 2A active balancing capabilities.



I have a built 2 Batteries so far an 280Ah S4 Lifepo4 for a UPS/backup and a 30Ah S14 NMC Battery For an Escooter both with JK bmss.

I’m charging them with a Riden 6024 at the moment.



I hope I have started a thread the brings power back to the people. No pun intended.

Thanks in advance to all the open minded answerers out there.

 

[rodrick]

The problem I see is everyone wants to monitor and play with their system no matter where they are, it’s almost like solar assistant or victron connect is the new grand theft auto or madden 2023

you having remote access means everyone has access, you will have to give up some of the fancy features and go old school to be safe. A basic inverter, something like a blue solar mppt and agm battery bank would be pretty safe system imo

 

[kommando]

This will add to your concerns, Loco manufacturer includes code to stop the loco being serviced by anyone but themselves. It includes a hidden GSM so code can be changed and comms kept open.

Dieselgate, but for trains – some heavyweight hardware hacking

[this is an English translation of the original article in Polish, we occasionally publish the best cyber stories from Poland in English] A train manufactured by a Polish company suddenly broke down during maintenance. The experts

badcyber.com

I have a Draytek router, it has a feature where you can block any individual LAN IP address from accessing the WAN. All my IP CCTV camera's are blocked from accessing the internet, did this after I found one was trying to reach a Microsoft cloud server which the Draytek was logging.

Also set your router to use the Quad9 DNS servers, this will filter out 95% of bad actor DNS requests and is constantly updated. So any malware has to go directly to an IP address not a URL to send data, they do not like to use fixed IP addresses as they need to be registered so blocking the URL means no data is sent.

 

[E. Cho]

My JK BMS and Victron MPPT can both be used without an internet connection. On your access device, turn off WiFI / your router connection and your mobile Data and the 2 apps still work and connect to your device. They require Bluetooth and Location but both of those are not connected to the internet and Bluetooth has extremely short range and location is more of a receiver, so how could they be used by others to hack your devices? I turn the apps, Bluetooth and Location off after use, not out of fear but to perhaps save my phone battery.

So just use a non internet connected device to use their apps?

 

[Crowz]

I have my system going thru solar assistant for all net bound parts. The inverter can't connect to the net at all now. So it can't be remotely killed one day if china goes postal.

Solar assistant can be l tweaked to be fool proof also as far as protecting the system from outside interference too.

 

[upnorthandpersonal]

If you want remote monitoring, build your own - I've documented one possible set-up in the Wiki. None of my systems need an internet connection to function, and none of them have remote access for anything unless I allow access. My MUST inverter and charge controller don't even have a 'cloud' option or any other means of communicating 'back home'. The Multiplus-II I run is not connected to the Victron Portal, and doesn't have to be in any way. There are plenty of options - if it doesn't connect to the internet, you're good.

God only knows what AI could do to us.

The current state of A.I. is highly exaggerated. It's essentially advanced statistical tools.

Even my JK BMS needs location services on for some reason.

That's because Bluetooth can leak location information, so therefor, any application on Android using Bluetooth needs the Location capability - which is why you get the notification. It doesn't send anything over your data connection - it's just to establish the BT link. This changes in Android 12.

https://www.reddit.com/r/razer/comments/qk3mtr

Bluetooth permissions | Connectivity | Android Developers

developer.android.com

 

[lotsofsparks]

My JK BMS and Victron MPPT can both be used without an internet connection. On your access device, turn off WiFI / your router connection and your mobile Data and the 2 apps still work and connect to your device. They require Bluetooth and Location but both of those are not connected to the internet and Bluetooth has extremely short range and location is more of a receiver, so how could they be used by others to hack your devices? I turn the apps, Bluetooth and Location off after use, not out of fear but to perhaps save my phone battery.

So just use a non internet connected device to use their apps?

I turned off wifi on the tablet and jk bms app still works, I wasn't sure what Location services were but the software could have a hidden software kill switch Installed in the form of a 3rd party licence subscription that might expire.

 

[upnorthandpersonal]

I turned off wifi on the tablet and jk bms app still works, I wasn't sure what Location services were but the software could have a hidden software kill switch Installed in the form of a 3rd party licence subscription that might expire.

It doesn't - this is what it takes and how you could circumvent it. The only way that it would work and can't be circumvented is the third option described there. That needs internet connection, and the app doesn't need it. And even if it did, you don't need to use the app. Old versions of the app are still available (I have a collection) and they work fine - you don't need to update anything. You also can use RS-485 port to read the settings, and control the switches.
If you want to take it that far, might as well build a DIYBMS, and add an active balancer module.

 

[scrubjaysnest]

The only way is both total physical and electronic isolation. This means removing wifi and Bluetooth modules. The government is watching. Currently congress is getting ready to renew the FBI's warrantless search.

 

[upnorthandpersonal]

Some of us, including OP, aren't in the States.

 

[50ShadesOfDirt]

If you buy into the modern HF inverters, there's all kinds of electronics in there ... monitoring over various networking schemes is built in, and who knows what back doors are present. By the time we figure out there is a back door in there, vendors have moved on, in firmware, software, new models, etc. But, I agree with the isolation comment above ... learn about your systems (before you buy it!), and isolate the crap out of it after you get it in.

If, to be prepared, you go low-tech with an LF inverter (doesn't have to be high watts), batteries, etc., and just keep it in a box to pull out in an emergency, then it jumps out of the box ready to run ... hook things up, turn it on. Little to no electronics monitoring footprint. I also suggest a hand-truck or utility box solar generator version, as ready to run. To monitor this, you go low tech, and point a cam at it.

I actually use a car video display (mounted next to where I sit), with several cams around the property, all communicating back wirelessly to the display. One cam is pointed at the inverter/mppt lcd displays, and at a glance, I can tell the state of things. As all the settings were input years ago, a glance is all that is needed to see the current running state.

Of course, you might worry about the display being hi-jacked ... in which case, just keep it off until you need to look at something, and then it's back off again.

Hope this helps ...

 

[lotsofsparks]

@upnorthandpersonal I just downloaded all those apps thanks.
If some freedom eroding laws are introduce in other western countries it was most likely done here in Australia first. Australian politicians are pioneers in western, Orwellian, Authoritarian Surveillance states.
@50ShadesOfDirt I've ordered a JK BMS display for monitoring I think it plugs into the RS485 port.

 

[Warpspeed]

Human civilization has existed for thousands of years without the internet.
Why does everything now need to have full connectivity and software licenses ?

The way its going, even an electric toothbrush needs to have a colour touch screen display, wifi, and be able to be controlled remotely via the internet.
Its all just plain nonsense.

 

[Cronix]

Yes to all the above, but you also don't ever really know what's lurking in your firmware, which can be date triggered without any sort of connection.

 

[glandpuck]

If you want to be free from all snooping except maybe satellite imagery, then simply install flooded lead acid batteries. With care they last 10 years. Attach to a good MPPT charge controller like Outback Power or Midnite Solar and connect to your inverter. Nobody will be the wiser. Just make sure your human waste DNA is not detectable in ground water runoff or soil samples or the state will know of your existence.

 

[gotbeans]

connect stuff without internet in house however you want
set it up as an internal network however you want (no internet connectivity)

^^^ all that works fine for LAN access and you are set.

-----------------

set up 1 node with internet connectivity and wireguard access, this is now your bridge.
connect to it to connect to everything else from internet

 

[Warpspeed]

I just use a PC out in the shed to monitor things, and run a VGA cable to the house, and have a monitor screen set up in the kitchen.
Don't need no stinkin internet.

 

[sun walker]

Microsoft altering things in my laptop

So why aren't you using an open source Linux os?

 

[v_green57]

+1 on Linux (or any flavor thereof).

Back in the early 00's, for several years, my off-grid neighbors and myself shared a Starband satellite Internet connection. Back then, you got maybe 1.5M down / 21K up.

Because of those slow speeds, and to keep it "affordable", Starband had pretty severe limits on data usage. If you exceeded your monthly allotment, you were throttled to 56K down.

We all worked around this. Back then, we were just happy to be able to run email clients and check the weather out in the middle of nowhere.

One of my neighbors had his old Win XP laptop die and bought a new Acer with W7.

Every time you booted it up, it downloaded +/- 50MB of crap, which was a significant chunk of our total allotment. Even after lobotomizing it and removing all the crapware, it still wanted 20MB.

Our solution was to move to Lubuntu. Windows has been kicked to the curb for at least ten years. We have never looked back. Of course, the satellite connection is long gone, and we now have a 26 mile 5Ghz link back to "real" Internet with no data caps, so that isn't an issue any more, but we are all still happier as a "non-MS" shop.

For those old "windows only" proggies necessary to program old CC's (MSVIEW for Morningstar comes to mind), etc., we run XP or 2K in VirtualBox.

I keep a relatively capable Lenovo laptop for the business when we run into essential websites that still pronounce Linux as evil and won't run certain things (Arizona Workman's Comp. site is one). I bring it home from the office (only use Verizon hotspot there) to run Windows Update about once a month via my 10/100 Cox connection.

It takes a friggin' 4 - 5 hours MINIMUM to complete. Un-f'n-believable. Patches in the GIGABYTES every time.

Linux updates in a few minutes.

Not to mention that Microsoft has pronounced the Lenovo "incapable" of running whatever the current version of Windows is (I don't track that any more). I am expected to just scrap it and buy something newer.

Bullshit to that. I shouldn't need a Cray to do my day-to-day.

Linux is the only up-to-date OS that's still available in 32-bit (Q4OS) so it will run on my old Fujitsu U810 UMPC, which I use to admin remote wireless sites that can only be accessed via hiking.

 

[gotbeans]

Yep had similar issues on low data systems. I've used linux since it was barely usable 25 years ago but pretty much had to due to bandwidth
today you have the issue of how bad it is for SSDs. windows has terabytes written from sitting idle where linux will have a few gigabits, it's really a 1/1000th difference or even more. Pretty nuts