All Your Smart Devices Are Watching You
At this point, it is obvious that our smartphones and computers are data leaks. Many of us now cover our laptop webcams (although we always forget our microphones) while our smartphones track our location with us wherever we go. Unfortunately, these tools are so indispensable in modern life that we take a privacy hit to work alongside the rest of society and do our best to keep our data safe .
However, it is not only these infamous devices that are invading our lives. Almost any device that connects to the Internet poses some kind of threat to the privacy and security of your life. Smart TVs, lights, refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, locks, thermostats, maps, air conditioners, light switches, and even faucets: if the word “smart” is in the name, it likely has a spying problem.
Keep in mind that not all risks are the same, but it is impossible to use a device developed by a third party to access another network without exposing yourself to some degree of risk. However, the degree is determined both by the intention of the manufacturer of the smart device and by the unforeseen consequences of its operation. I will explain.
Let’s start with the first: any company that makes a device that connects to the Internet, or that connects to a second Internet-ready device, makes a decision about how to respect your privacy. Respect is usually minimal: it’s not surprising to find that a smart device, by default, tracks at least some data and sends it back to the developer or shares it with third parties for promotional purposes.
Sometimes we don’t know about these data breaches until whistleblowers report them, such as when we learned that Apple contractors were eavesdropping on people’s lives through snippets of Siri recordings. However, you can peek into at least some of the device data companies are stealing from you through device settings.
Dive into smart device settings
Most smart devices work by connecting to your smartphone, or more specifically, to an app on your smartphone. This can be your smartphone’s built-in home app, such as the Home app on iPhone or Google Home on Android, or a third-party app, such as Smart Life. Not only do these apps allow you to configure and control the many smart devices that power your smart home, but they also contain privacy and security options that your smart device’s developer comes with. And, boy, can these settings tell.
I offer myself as an example for this work. I don’t have many smart devices at home, but I like the series of smart lights. Although I’ve had these indicators and the third party app associated with them for years, I somehow never looked into my privacy settings to see what settings I could tweak. First option? ” Data Analysis: Allows us to collect data related to product usage .”
Oh sure. Excellent. “Data.” Whatever that means.
When the description is as vague as this statement, my lights can indeed transmit anything: the developer can simply keep track of when the light turns off and on, or they can record every time my phone connects to their network, telling them when I I enter my house and when I leave. Indeed, the possibilities are endless and I don’t like it. It goes without saying, but this setting is currently disabled .
Another setting I’m now checking is disabled: ” Personalization: Allow us to recommend content to you via ads and notifications “. I have absolutely no need for this smart home app to take my data and try to sell me ads based on my light usage. Goodbye.
From a privacy standpoint, these settings pages are essential if you want to limit the amount of data you share with your smart home. Don’t forget to also check the system settings for the app: on an iPhone, for example, you need to go to the app’s name in settings to find additional privacy settings, including network connections like Bluetooth, LAN, and cellular data. If I could, I would disable all of these connections for my smart lights, but then, unfortunately, I wouldn’t be able to adjust my lights from my phone, which defeats my purpose. (Though I don’t give them my location, so that’s something, right?)
However, it brings up an important point: for many of these devices to work properly, you must give up some privacy. It’s a feature, not a bug: for example, your smart thermostat won’t let you adjust the temperature on your way home from work if you can’t reach it from your phone. The same principle applies to any IoT device that requires a connection to another device in order to function.
If you don’t want to sacrifice that privacy, that’s absolutely fine, but a smart home is most likely not for you.
Smart TVs are, of course, an exception here: they are a device and do not depend on a smartphone or application to work. In this case, you’ll scroll through the settings on the TV itself to make sure your security is as cohesive as possible. Pay special attention to the settings that track everything you watch, commonly known as ACR. You can follow our guide here to find out more .
Of course, these settings pages are not exhaustive: many devices are likely leaking data that we don’t know about, and companies are more than happy to not offer us any way to control this. However, if we are going to make a smart home, the less data we transfer, the better.
Smart devices are targets for hacking
However, this is not only about privacy: smart devices also pose a threat to your security. Any device connected to the Internet offers hackers a gateway into your life. Consider how hackers were able to break into Target’s systems using the company’s smart thermostats as an entry point. Now think about the smart thermostat you have in your living room: even if the developer doesn’t intend to build a device that is easy to hack, the unpatched vulnerabilities in its code make it possible.
Even worse, consider that hackers can get the data depending on the device. Hacking smart lights is one thing, but hacking a smart speaker to eavesdrop on all your conversations or a smart camera to watch all of your conversations is quite another. Even something as innocuous as a smart light cannot be ignored, as sophisticated attacks can use the smart light’s connections to infiltrate your entire network.
If possible, keep your devices disconnected from the main network. If you can only keep them connected to your phone and not regular Wi-Fi, this can help prevent these attacks (on an iPhone, this means Bluetooth and LANs must be enabled and Wi-Fi disabled). However, since many of these devices require an Internet connection to work, it is best to choose well-known brands with good security. However, consumers are not often targeted by such hacks, but since it is at least possible, it should be considered.