Privacy Tool Spotlight: Valetudo

Smart home technology is everywhere now. We're well past the days of the old Australian TV series Beyond 2000 declaring, "Don't look for it on the news tonight, don't look for it in the newspaper tomorrow... look for it in the year 2000." What once seemed like futuristic speculation has become everyday life. These devices are so common that they regularly go on deep discount during Amazon Prime events. Smart cameras, doorbells, lights, and robot vacuums are filling more and more of our homes. But what happens when we don't fully understand the risks that come with them? Picture this: you're at home using the bathroom while the robot vacuum makes its scheduled run. No big deal. It's just following the routine the owner set up. Then months later, you find out it took pictures of you during that private moment, and someone from the company shared those images online. This exact situation was documented in MIT Technology Review: "A Roomba recorded a woman on the toilet. How did…