Technology: Some brands have more confidence than others when it comes to smart home devices – but do these devices really listen to what we say?

writing ZDNet

The global smart home market will reach nearly $ 138 billion by 2023, according to forecasts. The demand for smart home terminals is growing at a high rate. But consumers continue to be wary of these products, according to a new report.

In fact, some brands are seen as more trustworthy than others when it comes to smart or connected home devices.
 publicity 

Confident users, but not all

Smart home projects specialist Porch, based in Seattle, Washington, surveyed more than 1,000 people using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk to find out if they trusted their smart devices and how they perceived the future of technology.

These connected terminals are here to stay, for sure. They help us organize ourselves, for example to create shopping lists, make hands-free phone calls and perform simple tasks.

But we don’t fully trust them.

Groups such as millennials (people born between 1980 and 2000) find that they need to build a relationship of trust with a brand before buying the latest technology.

Although influenced by the buzz around a new terminal and wishing to be concerned by the current technological developments, consumers do not fully trust their devices.

More than half of the respondents own smart devices (57.4% of baby boomers, 69.6% of Generation X and 75.1% of millennials). However, they are less numerous in proportion to trust these terminals.

34% of smart device owners do not trust them or their manufacturers.

Amazon, a brand of trust, unlike Apple

Amazon ranks first on the trust front as nearly two-thirds (64%) of respondents say they trust the company, the world’s leading manufacturer of connected speakers .

Apple, despite its communication and its declared attachment to the confidentiality and security of its customers’ data, has the lowest confidence score at 54.7%.

Almost half of those polled believe their connected home devices record their private conversations for targeted advertising, even though Google and Amazon refute any such use.

The survey shows that almost half (48.2%) of smart device owners would completely lose confidence in their device if the terminal’s conditions of service provided for unrestricted use of their data.

And 47.7% of owners would lose confidence if their hardware or software secretly collected their data.

Listening to their conversations seems to worry these consumers less and be able to alter their confidence. Only 38.8% would lose confidence if such a practice were proven.

Almost half of the respondents (48.9%) believe that the connected terminals in their homes record their private conversations to send them targeted advertisements.

More than one in five (22%) of respondents with smart speakers believe that their device has refused to follow their commands, and unfortunately, 7% of Amazon Alexa users are convinced that their device has gone wrong. occasion mocked them .

Even if smart home technology is still in its infancy, and despite an implicit lack of confidence from a fringe of consumption, its adoption is progressing.

We still have a lot to learn about the impact this technology will have on our society for future generations. And, as it becomes more sophisticated, we will also have to become smarter.