Smart Speakers and Privacy Issues: What People Need to Know

Only a few languages are supported by smart speakers, and adoption rates are still low worldwide. Virtual assistants will eventually be able to speak every major language, greatly expanding their user base. Millions of homes in English-speaking nations already use smart speakers regularly.

Smart speaker manufacturers updating their basic product lines with an emphasis on providing high sound quality at reasonable pricing. Thus, it is anticipated to fuel the market growth. In addition, according to a research report by Astute Analytica, the Global Smart Speaker Market is likely to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.2% over the projection period from 2023 to 2031.

Privacy concerns with smart speakers

Concerns around privacy have increased with the introduction of the first smart speakers. Consider the fact that people are bringing a device into their personal space that can record their conversations, gather information about their behaviors, and create consumer profiles. That much privacy must be sacrificed to use a smart speaker conveniently.

Numerous instances of people accidentally activating virtual assistants have been documented. Then, the devices collected conversations they weren't supposed to and forwarded those recordings to independent contractors who were attempting to increase the accuracy of voice recognition.

Although tech companies assert that they only review a small number of anonymized recordings to enhance their products and services, these recordings frequently have enough information to allow the identification of individuals.

People can never be certain of the security, access, or storage methods for our data. As the number of smart equipment in our homes increases, privacy, and security issues must be addressed head-on.

How to improve people's privacy and security?

• Create a separate network just for IoT devices:
  Discussions with people on smart speakers could be overheard if hackers have gained access to their house Wi-Fi. People advise creating a network specifically for their smart home systems and IoT devices.

• Don't talk about personal stuff:
  When the speaker is on, it's advisable to avoid discussing their credit card information, passwords, and personal information. People chats might be overheard by unaffiliated criminals, contractors, or even the geeky neighbor down the street.

• Please remove people recordings:
  People may be able to erase a person's complete dictation history depending on the model of their smart speaker. In that case, anyone who gains access to their Amazon, Apple, or Google accounts will be unable to view their recordings.

• Apply a VPN:
  People's chance of being hacked is reduced with a virtual private network, which secures their traffic and conceals their IP address. Up to six separate devices may be protected under a single VPN account. Their entire household is protected if they enable it on their network.

• Control the settings:
  By altering the settings on a person's smart speaker, they can stop manufacturers from sharing their recordings with other contractors so they can provide better services.

• Make secure passwords:
  Make sure to fill up person passwords using uppercase and lowercase, special characters, and digits. The same password shouldn't be used across all of their accounts.

Content Source: - Smart Speaker Market