Your smart devices are talking behind your back.
Ouzel is a small box that blocks your smart devices from reporting to advertisers and trackers.
Be first in line. No spam, only important updates.
What it stops
Three things your devices do that you may not know about.
Ad & tracking servers
Your TV, doorbell and speaker quietly report what you watch, say and do. Ouzel cuts those reports off before they reach the internet.
Round-the-clock telemetry
Manufacturers collect "diagnostics" all day, every day. Ouzel keeps your devices working and the reporting switched off.
Hacked devices
When a device starts behaving like it's been taken over, Ouzel walls it off from your laptop, your phone, and everything else, automatically.
How it works
Set it up once. Never worry about it again.
Plug it in
One cable between your router and Ouzel. Under two minutes, no account, no app to install.
Connect your devices
Ouzel acts as a WiFi hotspot and ethernet router. Connect your devices to its isolated network.
Take back your privacy
Trackers blocked, telemetry silenced, suspicious devices isolated. Check the dashboard when you're curious.
Trust
A box that watches your devices better not watch you.
- What it sees
Addresses, not contents.
Ouzel sees where each device is trying to connect. Essentially, the address on the envelope, not the letter inside. It does not read what you watch, say or type.
- What it keeps
A tally, stored on-device.
The device counts what it blocked and what it isolated so the dashboard shows you its impact. That tally lives on the device in your home and nowhere else.
- What it sends us
Nothing.
No usage data, no device list, no browsing history. If we ever add deeper inspection to catch smarter threats, it will be opt-in, explained plainly, and processed on the device.
We're saying this now, while Ouzel is still a prototype, so you can hold us to it.
Who it's for
Privacy for people who’d rather not think about it.
The tools that do this today assume you own a Raspberry Pi, enjoy the terminal, and will happily spend a Saturday on it. Most people won't, and you shouldn't have to.
Ouzel is built for the household that just wants the TV to stop listening and the camera to stop reporting your activity. Plug it in, and the rest is handled.
Questions
What else?
Do I need to be technical?
No. If you can plug in a lamp, you can set up Ouzel. There is no terminal and no configuration file. There is a dashboard if you're curious what it's been blocking, but you don't have to check it.
Will it break my devices?
Ouzel only blocks connections that serve ads, tracking or telemetry. Anything a device genuinely needs to function, like updates, voice assistants, or streaming, passes through untouched.
Isn't this what Pi-hole does?
Pi-hole is a DNS filter for people comfortable with a Raspberry Pi and a command line. Ouzel is plug-and-play, and isolates compromised devices from the rest of your network, something DNS filtering alone can't do.
Does Ouzel collect data about me?
Only what it needs to do its job and to show you its impact: where your devices try to connect, and a running count of what it blocked. All of it stays on the box in your home. We can't see it, and we are designing it so we never will.
What about my phone and laptop?
Ouzel focuses on the devices you can't install a blocker on: TVs, cameras, speakers, plugs, appliances. Phones and laptops pass through normally unless you choose to include them.
Does it slow down my internet?
No. Ouzel inspects where a connection is going, not the traffic itself, so streaming and gaming are unaffected.
When can I get one?
Ouzel is an early prototype. Joining the waitlist gets you first access to hardware and a say in what we build next.
Early access
Be first in line.
We're building Ouzel for you. Leave your email and we'll reach out when there's hardware ready to try.
Be first in line. No spam, only important updates.