Hi, I'm Doug.

I work in the IoT industry, helping companies throughout the Americas solve their toughest problems with tiny but brilliant devices. I also run hands-on smart home workshops at my office in Boca Raton and moderate the r/ShellyUSA subreddit.

I'm a consumer too, and I deeply believe in our innate right to privacy. Local control is critical when I choose any piece of personal electronics - it's how my own home automation choices became my day job. If a device can't do its job without sending my family's data to someone else's server, I don't want it.

I think our data privacy is at greater risk today than at any time before. We're surrounded by tools that make it easy to trade convenience for the safety of our families, and most of us don't see what we gave up. Not until the company behind the product sells our data, suffers a breach, or switches the service off.

That's what I write about here: privacy, local control, and how the hardware actually works. I hope you find something here that is worth your time.