Amazon Sidewalk activates on Echo devices, even if you don’t turn it on

If you have a new Amazon Echo smart speaker, one Ring Spotlight Cam or one Ring Floodlight Cam, you might want to check your app settings: Amazon toggles automatically Pavement, a feature that cuts off some of your Wi-Fi bandwidth to create a larger network for Amazon devices using Bluetooth or 900 MHz radio signals to communicate, set to “on” in the Alexa app.

Amazon Sidewalk has the potential to increase the range of your smart home devices – making them more reliable at greater distances from your router and other equipment – but its implications for privacy and security remain largely untested.

While it appears Sidewalk isn’t live yet, some privacy experts have expressed concerns about the automatic opt-in. Users reported the change online and I myself saw that Sidewalk was set to “on” in my Alexa app, despite do not enable it during the initial setup.

Amazon has sent some emails to some users about the rollout and says Sidewalk won’t be available until later this year.

“We have started to notify existing Echo customers with qualifying devices that their devices will be part of Sidewalk and how they can change their preferences before the feature is enabled,” an Amazon spokesperson said. “Customers can update their Amazon Sidewalk preferences during device setup or at any time from the Alexa app settings.”

See also: Amazon Sidewalk will create entire smart neighborhoods. Here’s what you need to know