UK owners of smart home devices being asked for swathes of personal data
UK owners of smart home devices being asked for swathes of personal data
Which? said firms are gathering far more data than needed for products to function
From the article:
The consumer champion Which? found companies appear to be gathering far more data than is needed for products to function. This includes smart TVs that ask for users’ viewing habits and a smart washing machine that requires people’s date of birth. Rocio Concha, director of policy and advocacy at Which?, said: “Consumers have already paid for smart products, in some cases thousands of pounds, so it is excessive that they have to continue to ‘pay’ with their personal information.”
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Why would anyone connect an appliance to the internet?
I had the same thought when the salesman tried to convince me to buy a smart washer and dryer. Why do I need to be able to control them with my smartphone? Someone would still need to be present to load/empty them so then they can also turn it on.
Some people see a product described as 'smart' and their common sense immediately leaves their body.
Honestly, I wouldn’t mind getting a notification when my washer is done. If I’m doing too many things at once, I can forget that I had laundry going and it ends up sitting there until it gets musty and needs a re-wash.
That said, I did disconnect my smart tv from the internet when I found out it was sending data, including captured ambient audio, to the tv manufacturer. I just use an apple tv. I know that I’m still populating data for each of my streaming services, but the tv manufacturer has no need for my watching habits, much less people talking in my living room.
The one that I’ve never figured out was the refrigerator that connects to twitter.
I guess that might be -slightly- easier than setting a timer on your phone. Doesn't your washer beep when it's done though?
A washer beep is like a webhook: if the recipient fails to acknowledge it, it’s gone forever. A notification is like an
/eventsendpoint: the recipient can catch up on events at their own pace, and be reminded of and see events they haven’t processed.Half-jokes aside though, I think what we want here is a reminder, i.e. a todo with a timed alert. Beeps can be missed and timers can be stopped (e.g. when you’re occupied), so they aren’t the most fool-proof solution here. Reminders will at least sit in the notifications list until dismissed.
It's absurd. Obviously some devices "need" it, like smart doorbells and the like, but I'll die a painful death before I connect my TV or refrigerator to the internet.
Hell, I want a garage door opener that I can monitor remotely, but I'm not willing to compromise my home's security just because I second-guess myself on occasion.
So apart from annying peeping sounds when the cleaning is done, you will also get an annoying notification with statisctics of how much water was used and how much CO2 you used sent to your email.