In the News
Decreasing prices and increasing accessibility of smart speakers has made them more and more popular for household use. In Nearly a quarter of US households own a smart speaker, according to Nielsen, Micah Singleton from the Verge discusses a Nielsen study finding that 24% of households in the US have at least one smart speaker and that these speakers have typically been bought in recent months. Singleton also states that almost 70% of individuals with a smart speaker converse with said speaker ‘for fun’.
Our Take
Smart speakers are all the rage for making trivial tasks easier, random entertainment, and making music more accessible. However, with the advantages of smart speakers do come with a few drawbacks. As with all smart devices, there are security vulnerabilities with the inherent nature of devices that are continuously listening for your commands. Although many smart speakers have settings which disable the listening feature or other privacy settings, enabling these features is often not very clear for a user or seen as a hassle. Similarly, data misuse by third-party actors is unfortunately common and smart speakers may not always contain the same regulations for data storage than other devices or platforms. Understanding what your device is capable of and what the manufacture’s data practices are is incredible useful in protecting your data privacy.
Recommendations
How can you protect your personal information when using smart speakers and smart devices?
- Understand the risks of putting your personal information into the world, and only share what you have to
- Refrain from discussing highly sensitive information in the presence of smart speakers if are unsure of their security
- Utilize the security and privacy settings available on your smart devices and turn devices off when they are not in use
- Stay up to date on news covering recent data breaches to see if you may have been affected