The Wirecutter Show Are Your Smart Devices Really Spying on You?
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Aug 13, 2025 Jon Chase, supervising editor at Wirecutter and seasoned tech writer, dives into the world of smart devices and their hidden data collection practices. He reveals how even simple gadgets gather personal information to create detailed user profiles, often sold to the highest bidder. Chase discusses the unsettling role of smart TVs using automatic content recognition to monitor user activity. He shares actionable tips to help listeners safeguard their data, highlighting the balance between convenience and privacy in our increasingly connected homes.
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Siri Described A Photo Of Kids
- Rosie describes Siri transcribing and attempting to describe a photo of her children, which startled her into disabling it.
- The experience highlighted how new AI features can expose personal images and prompt immediate privacy concerns.
Data Is The Fuel Of Smart Homes
- Smart home devices rely on continuous data collection as the core fuel for their functions.
- This collection is often necessary for features but creates privacy trade-offs that users rarely fully understand.
Profiles Form From Association, Not Just Listening
- Devices and apps create associative data profiles from IP addresses, searches, and co-location that feed ad algorithms.
- Those profiles, often labeled 'anonymous,' can be recombined by data brokers to identify and target you.
