Cyber-security is something we are conscious about, yet are ignorant towards. We all want our data to be secure and care about our privacy, but none of us actually read the terms and conditions of any product or service and just go ahead and sign ‘I agree’ at the end. However, it is more than just your online accounts and social media profiles. We install security cameras in our homes which upload the data on a cloud server. Any device in your home which is connected to the internet such as your Smart TV, wireless doorbell, smart home devices, etc. uses the cloud-based storage system and the cloud is accessible by the service providing companies.
According to a new study led by Northeastern University’s professor David Choffnes, “There is a small number of these cloud providers that are getting a lot of insight into what you’re doing with these devices, and since they’re in our homes and they can do things like detect motion, they know when we’re home, they listen to our voice commands, they record video, they’re potentially getting access to a lot of sensitive data about us.”
We all want to make our homes smarter and our lives easier. But in doing so, we sometimes overlook the potential security breaches. We hardly gives a thought towards the cyber-security concerns. These companies have an insight into your daily movements. They know when you leave your house, when you switch on your TV, when you go for a run, what route you take for your office, and what not. The scary part is, this data has the potential to be breached and the outcome of that can be devastating for an individual.
“One of the big problems here is that there’s no way to turn it off and there’s no way to get consent,” Choffnes says. “If you’re visiting someone, these things are recording you, and you don’t have any control over that.”
Anushka Singh