Makers of air fryers, smart speakers, fertility trackers and smart TVs have been told to respect people’s rights to privacy by the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
People have reported feeling powerless to control how data is gathered, used and shared in their own homes and on their bodies.
After reports of air fryers designed to listen in to their surroundings and public concerns that digitised devices collect an excessive amount of personal information, the data protection regulator has issued its first guidance on how people’s personal information should be handled.
It is demanding that manufacturers and data handlers ensure data security, are transparent with consumers and ensure the regular deletion of collected information.
Stephen Almond, the executive director for regulatory risk at the ICO, said: “Smart products know a lot about us: who we live with, what music we like, what medication we are taking and much more.
“They are designed to make our lives easier, but that doesn’t mean they should be collecting an excessive amount of information … we shouldn’t have to choose between enjoying the benefits of smart products and our own privacy.
“We all rightly have a greater expectation of privacy in our own homes, so we must be able to trust smart products are respecting our privacy, using our personal information responsibly and only in ways we would expect.”
The new guidance cites a wide range of devices that are broadly known as part of the “internet of things”, which collect data that needs to be carefully handled. These include smart fertility trackers that record the dates of their users’ periods and body temperature, send it back to the manufacturer’s servers and make an inference about fertile days based on this information.
Smart speakers that listen in not only to their owner but also to other members of their family and visitors to their home should be designed so users can configure product settings to minimise the personal information they collect.
The regulator said manufacturers needed to be transparent with people about how their personal information was being used, only collect necessary information and make it easy for people to delete their data from the product.
The ICO told manufacturers “we are ready to take action if necessary to protect people from harm”.
