Why in the hell does a garage door opener need a server?
Oh, data collection. And subscriptions. Nothing for the user.
I avoid any home automation thing that has any cloud backing that's not strictly optional. It's a strong anti-feature. In home stuff cloud means it won't work when the Internet is down, it spies on you, and it can become a brick or start requiring a subscription at any time.
This makes sense (and myQ’s privacy policy is a nightmare: https://www.myq.com/privacy-notice) but I’ve never understood how this particular bit of data is valuable to anyone. Any ideas?
I buy a connected garage door opener. The provider knows my geolocation, my name, email address, socioeconomic status, even the phone I own. Inferences can be made on activity such as "they leave for work at 7am when garage door opens".
The collection of data doesn't need to be used specifically for reengaging me with Chamberlain. It is now an asset to the company that can be sold to others as outlined in their Information Sharing section. Which basically says "we share it with everyone".
Partners can be anyone from insurance companies to academic researchers. Remember that partners aren't limited to just one data set. They have the ability to ask multiple companies: "What data do you have for all occupants of houses in this geographic area?"
Yup. And to make the issue clear: there is no such thing as "anonymized data", there's only "anonymized until correlated with enough related data sets".
* someone who drives frequently may rank higher for automotive products and services
* use to independently rank other statistics, i.e. someone with kids probably comes and goes more than a single person or non-child-rearing couple. Take the dataset where you know they have kids (and myQ) and see if you can detect the ones with kids using only myQ data (plus other statistics). If it allows you to infer this property accurately enough, profit.
* Someone who comes and goes a lot is most likely not physically disabled, so exclude them from those specific marketing materials.
* someone who is home a lot (hardly ever opens their garage door) might like to spend money on useless gadgets, try selling them IoT toasters
Having options like this is great for powerusers, but the vast majority of people are not that. They need something that just works. Of course that still doesn't mean they need their garage door collecting telemetry data, but they need something more than a LAN-connected smart device.
You don’t need a cloud server to remotely access a device.
For example, Apple Home does not work by default over WireGuard.
Not for the average consumer.
I actually have gotten to know a lot of folks who are massive into home automation, who also know precisely fuck all about computers or whatnot.
Allow package deliverers to put a package in your garage instead of on your step.
When I had MyQ, I used it almost exclusively when I was on my motorcycle. I had it configured so that I could tap a button on my phone that tracked my location and enabled a geofence around my house so it would ping the MyQ to open when I got about a quarter mile from home. I called this my "riding home" mode. This saved me the trouble of having to get my gloves off and open the door through the app when I got to my driveway, and I didn't have to leave a garage door opener on/with my bike.
These very practical daily occurrences can make devices incredibly annoying and frustrating for typical consumers who want it to just work.
I'd rather that it use the LAN, if I'm there at the time.
Data collection and remote access can just be their own functionality.
Because the user is almost certainly installing the device behind a NAT with a dynamically assigned public IP. These are mass-market garage door openers, not devices targeted to those familiar with advanced network configuration.
I also avoid cloud connected IoT stuff. I have the luxury of doing so because I have IT skills. For those who do not, accessible alternatives simply don't exist.
