The Consumer Electronics Show is a wall-to-wall collection of connected devices. The annual event showcases the best and the strangest gadgets on the planet. Sometimes these are the same thing. But almost all of these gadgets have one thing in common — they run on data. Your data, specifically.
Human beings produce data at a frightening (and lucrative) rate. Just your movement information is a wandering point in space that can be commercialised or weaponised. It can inform Google Maps that there’s a traffic jam nearby. Or it can let a government hit squad know where you live if you occupy a country with a more… uncomplicated… approach to dissidents. The point is, the technology around us is hoovering up data like a 1980s stockbroker at a cocaine factory.
Users don’t tend to pay much attention to what information is being gathered and why. Does it make the shiny blinky box work? Then it’s all fine and dandy. But sensors are becoming increasingly advanced, to the point that your urine data is the newest (sorry) goldmine. If you’ve ever wondered what your tech — from smartphones to smart home — knows (and shares) about you, here’s what you need to know.
Smartphones phone home. Often.
One of the largest data pipelines in your life is the common, garden-variety smartphone. Several studies have investigated just how much and how often a cellular phone transmits info to your new corporate masters the folks who made it. The news is slightly better if you’re an Apple user but both Android and Apple devices are in constant contact with their respective motherships.
What do they collect? Actually, that’s an interesting question. Almost all smartphones (we didn’t check ’em all, there are loads out there) transmit hardware and software information. Your IMEI number, whether or not there’s a SIM card, wireless access point info, and other phone state details are harvested and shared, whether you’re using those aspects of your phone or not. And that’s not covering a) information collected by your service provider, b) the apps you have installed, and c) extra info you have to give away to receive functional OTT services like Google Maps, Siri, or basically any cloud-based services.
Trackers do just that
Fitness trackers, smartwatches, and tracking tiles all include at least one broad capability — that is, they’re able to locate you at a specific point on the planet. At least, that’s the case if you’re rocking one of the decent ones. On-device GPS is incredibly desirable, whether you’re using a Fitbit or an Apple Watch. Oh, there are a bunch of different sensors inside most wearables — tracking tiles are far simpler — but the commonality all these devices feature is just how effective they are at pinpointing your location. They do this so you can know just how far and how fast you managed to lug your body around this time. You’re getting better. We believe in you.
What do they collect? Well, besides location info there’s your health data, including heart rate, skin temperature, quite possibly your menstrual cycle (if you have one), and how well you’re sleeping at night. All of these points, and more, make for lovely graphs. But they’re not your graphs. Not really. Quite often, the info you generate becomes the property of the company that sold you that app-connected wristband. You’re just allowed to use it. Kinda. In Fitbit’s case, you’re allowed to use some of it (unless you pay for a monthly Fitbit Premium subscription). Every point of information that you’ve created, by moving, breathing, sleeping, or otherwise existing, tends to be eligible to be sold on to third parties. Usually, it’s anonymised first (that’s the law in most places) but it’s impossible to know for sure if that’s happened. As long as you’re never hit by a drone keyed to your specific heartbeat, you’ll probably never know for sure. Still, step goal completed for the day. Right?
The walls have eyes (and ears)
They may not have as many sensors as your fitness tracker or smartphone. Then again, they just might. But the sensors they do have tend to be more advanced. The ability to capture and stream face, voice, and video data makes smart home technology especially useful (have you tried a doorbell camera out yet? They’re the best) but it’s also potentially the most frightening of all the tech you can own. Part of that is the tradeoff. Unless you spend a massive amount of money, you’re probably not getting all that much in return for the potential data harvesting that’s going on.
What do they collect? Not all smart home devices are created equally but if a smartphone collects it, your smart device collects it. That’s because most of these are app-operated but they can also include other data. Amazon’s Echo devices include cameras and microphones. So do Google’s Nest products. Amazon’s Halo is another candidate for potentially scary data collection since all that one does is watch you sleep. Some of Google’s devices include proximity sensors, and some smart home kit features temperature, moisture, and humidity sensors.
All of it is a smorgasbord of data just waiting to be plated and stuffed into the gaping maw of an information broker. Not all of it will be. Much of the generated information is protected by various privacy agreements. Companies want you to buy their devices, not be terrified in their presence. But it’s awfully tempting to have the info lying around, just… doing nothing. You’re also working on the assumption that your smart home kit is secure. The fractured marketplace up to this point has meant that it’s anything but. But the introduction of the Matter standard could well be an answer to that problem.