domy is a cloud free home automation system.
Designing domy system, Homatron has made a very clear choice, i.e. to give the user the freedom to decide how to use his own data.
It follows that Homatron offers a product, not a service: a product that, in the same way as an object, can be kept at home and no one can access it from outside.
The object does not need to be constantly monitored by the producer as well as the user / owner has no need to access the producer to make it works.
In clear disagreement with the large multinationals that tend to grab the data from the greatest number of people to be able to infer habits and lifestyles, we have chosen to protect what is more private and personal in people’s life: home.
domy is a product and Homatron will provide all updates to connect new devices or to improve performance. The user / owner will be evaluate them and will decide on their installation in complete freedom. If he will not install updates, the system will continue to operate as usual and without not one can decide to discontinue the functionality.
For those who want to deepen ….
The term "cloud computing" (or just "cloud", in the context of computing) is a marketing buzzword with no coherent meaning. It is used for a range of different activities whose only common characteristic is that they use the Internet for something beyond transmitting files. Thus, the term spreads confusion. If you base your thinking on it, your thinking will be confused (or, could we say, "cloudy"?).
When thinking about or responding to a statement someone else has made using this term, the first step is to clarify the topic. What scenario is the statement about? What is a good, clear term for that scenario? Once the topic is clearly formulated, coherent thought about it becomes possible.
One of the many meanings of "cloud computing" is storing your data in online services. In most scenarios, that is foolish because it exposes you to surveillance.
Another meaning (which overlaps that but is not the same thing) is Service as a Software Substitute, which denies you control over your computing. You should never use SaaSS.
Another meaning is renting a remote physical server, or virtual server. These practices are ok under certain circumstances.
Another meaning is accessing your own server from your own mobile device. That raises no particular ethical issues.
The NIST definition of "cloud computing" mentions three scenarios that raise different ethical issues: Software as a Service, Platform as a Service, and Infrastructure as a Service. However, that definition does not match the common use of "cloud computing", since it does not include storing data in online services. Software as a Service as defined by NIST overlaps considerably with Service as a Software Substitute, which mistreats the user, but the two concepts are not equivalent.
These different computing practices don't even belong in the same discussion. The best way to avoid the confusion the term "cloud computing" spreads is not to use the term "cloud" in connection with computing. Talk about the scenario you mean, and call it by a specific term.
Curiously, Larry Ellison, a proprietary software developer, also noted the vacuity of the term "cloud computing." He decided to use the term anyway because, as a proprietary software developer, he isn't motivated by the same ideals as we are.
gnu.org
The cloud consists of a set of computer resources made available by a service provider (cloud-provider) where the user can access both to store data and processing them.
In practice a cloud-based home automation system consists of a set of sensors and actuators inside home that write their data directly to the server on the internet and receive commands via applications resident on the internet sharing them with all other users.
Even if the user is inside the home, therefore, its possible command must make his way on the internet and find the application that his service provider must supply it with for this to happen.
The command at this point will start from the server on the internet and will come to the actuator inside the house. The sensor data as well as the records of sent commands will be stored on a server owned some of the service provider and why you can access it, for example to display a graph, it will be launched an application that will reside on the cloud provider that will scan all your data to show it.
The cloud computing systems are mostly criticized for the exposure of users to risks related to:
1) Computer security and user privacy:
Use a cloud service to store personal or sensitive data exposes the user to potential problems of violation of privacy.
The personal data is stored in the Server Farms of companies that often reside in a state other than the user.
The cloud provider, in the event of misconduct or malicious, could have access to personal data to perform market research and user profiling.
With wireless connections, the security risk increases. You are more exposed to cases of piracy due to less security offered by wireless networks.
In the presence of illegal acts, such as embezzlement or illegal appropriation of personal data, the damage could be very serious for the user, with the difficulty of achieving legal solutions and / or refunds if the supplier resides in a different state from your country.
In the case of industries or companies, all data stored in external memories are seriously exposed to possible cases of industrial espionage.
2) International issues of economic and political
They can occur when public data is collected and stored in private archives, located in a country other than those of the “cloud users”.
Crucial productions and intellectual character along with a large amount of personal information is stored more and more over in the form of digital data to centralized private archives and partially accessible.
No warranty is given to users for a future free access.
Other problems are related to the location of the archives of the “cloud” in some rich countries. If not regulated by specific international standards which could:
1. increase the “digital divide” between rich and poor countries (if access to stored knowledge will not be freely granted to all).
2. favoring mainly large corporations with “polycentric organisms” and “minds monocentric” located mainly in the countries of the “cloud”, being the intellectual property considered as a key factor in modern economies “knowledge-based”.
More security and guarantees are there in case the service provider is from the same country / area by applying the same laws / regulations regarding privacy and security of the customer (the US law or other nations is very different by Italy and it becomes impossible to think meet national standards for cloud services with other nations).
3) Continuity of service provided:
Delegating to an external service data management and the cost to develop the user is severely limited in the event that these services are not operating (out of service).
A possible malfunction also affects a very large number of people simultaneously given that these are shared services. Although the best cloud computing services use redundant architectures and qualified personnel in order to avoid malfunctions of the system and reduce the likelihood of end user visible faults, do not eliminate the problem entirely. Also, we consider that everything is based on the ability to have a high speed Internet connection in both download and upload, and that even in the event of an interruption of the connection due to your Internet Service Provider / ISP has the complete paralysis of activities.
4) The data migration difficulties in case of a possible change of the cloud service provider:
As there is a standard defined between service managers, a possible change of operator is extremely complex. All this would be extremely detrimental in the case of failure of the operator of the services which you have entrusted. *
* https: //it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing
and also
5) Ability to real data confusion
Being resident on the same server, the data of a user can be exchanged with the data of another user.
6) Exposure to hackers attacks
Malicious hackers can find affordable an attack on platforms where they are resident data from many people since that data can easily be resold. As was the case in October 2014 in Dropbox were stolen 7 million passwords of users whose data have been resold and paid in bitcoins (untraceable). Always in 2014 iCloud was attacked and the data have been violated. *
The identified weaknesses are all present in a home automation system based on cloud technology. It is worth mentioning that these data are often familiar habits, household equipment operating times (eg. TV), times in which the house is uninhabited or inhabited, where you sleep etc. in short, data for which every person should be protected as part of their privacy. If in addition you have a burglar alarm or a camera system, their privacy, like that of his family, it is severely compromised. A possible theft of this data or unauthorized use may also result in more not be prosecuted because you may have to apply a law unknown to the user.
Plus it adds that history already tells of home automation systems manufacturing companies that have been bought by competitors in order to eliminate the product from the market. Users of the “purchased” system have witnessed the death of their system without being called to account and without being able to influence decisions, nullifying in toto their investment.
Today almost all the home automation systems is based on the cloud (and the cloud are hosted on servers in foreign countries).
* Taken from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing