Amazon‘s single purpose $4.99 Dash button, used for stacking up necessary household items, can be hacked to collect user information.
There are several buttons representing different brands and users just have to click the button to have an order placed automatically.
According to Cloudstitch CTO Ted Benson the button can be used to do anything that the user wants by tapping into the network of the signal.
He used it to track his newborn baby’s schedule, by using a Python programme.
Benson searched for the button in the Wi-Fi network, got hold of its address and set it up to record data into a spreadsheet.
According to Benson, the buttons are a blend of Wi-Fi radio and a battery that can be hijacked to collect all sorts of information.
The button can be used to track the progress of a new habit, and can also be used for reminding the last time the user did something around the house, or count off the number of times they completed a task.
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Benson said: "A lot of people made fun of Dash Buttons when Amazon launched them on the day before April Fool’s Day.
"But regardless of what you think about Dash as a consumer product, it’s an undeniably compelling prototype of what the Internet of Things is going to look like."
