Your air fryer may be spying on you, a new report warns – and smart TVs are even hungrier for our data
- According to a new report, some air fryers collect your personal information
- Smart TVs and smartwatches are also particularly hungry for our data
- Manufacturers say there are legitimate reasons for the requests
The best air fryers may be truly life-changing pieces, but some hide a prowling dark side that can invade your privacy in a variety of alarming ways, according to a new report.
The British Consumer Organization Which one? has released a report based on its privacy findings on a range of products including air fryers, smartwatches, smart TVs and smart speakers. And it makes for disturbing reading if you’re worried about the creeping tentacles of tech companies.
While privacy and security concerns surrounding smart TVs are nothing new, some air fryers’ appetite for our personal data is more of a surprise. Which one? found that the three fryers tested all “wanted to record audio on the user’s phone for no specific reason.”
The Aigostar and Xiaomi fryers tested “both sent people’s personal data to servers in China,” the report said. That action was highlighted in a privacy statement, but that’s probably something many will miss.
More specifically: Which one? said Xiaomi’s companion app for its air fryer linked it to “trackers from Facebook, Pangle (TikTok for Business’s ad network) and Chinese tech giant Tencent (depending on the user’s location).” That was in addition to knowing the precise location of the owner.
For some reason, the Aigostar air fryer wanted to know the “gender and date of birth” of the owner, even though this was at least optional. Yet the list of privacy breaches was long and worrying, even as companies like the UK’s ICO (Information Commissioner’s Office) must demand more transparency from companies about their use of data by 2025
Smart TVs are watching
We’ve been reporting on the potential privacy issues of smart TVs for almost a decade, and the problem isn’t getting any better. Which one? report.
One of the worst offenders in the tests was Samsung, which requested eight “risky” phone permissions, with risky defined as having invasive access to your phone for actions like recording audio or seeing your exact location.
This placed Samsung second only to the Huawei Ultimate smartwatch in terms of black privacy marks, with the watch asking for nine of those “risky” permissions. Huawei claims in its defense that no data has been used for marketing purposes and that all requests have a legitimate reason.
Samsung was certainly not alone in the field of smart TVs: other devices from Hisense and LG also asked for a zip code during installation – although in the latter case this was not mandatory.
The problem is also not limited to products that ask for our personal data in advance. Which one? found that smart speakers like the Bose Home Portable speaker are “packed with trackers, including Facebook, Google and digital marketing company Urbanairship.”
How to increase your privacy
The problem with many of the privacy breaches committed by Which? is that many of them are either a mandatory part of the installation process or, like the ad trackers, are largely hidden from view. But there are some ways to protect your privacy.
For starters, you can limit the data or functions given to companion apps on your iOS or Android phone. On iOS, go to Settings > Privacy & Security, then scroll down to the permission you want to check (for example, microphone or camera). On Android, you can do the same through Settings > Security & Privacy > Consent Management.
Otherwise, it’s best to check data requests during app setup and opt out of any optional requests you’re not comfortable with. As which? The report notes we also need better controls over the data we share with smart tech companies, but until that happens, it’s worth being aware that even your air fryer can snoop on your personal data more than you would think.
