No, you are not paranoid. Your apps and gadgets really are quietly monitoring what you do and say and where you go—and then they are sharing that information with people you’ve never met.
It’s the reality of modern technology …and it’s getting worse. If you’re thinking, I’m not at risk because I don’t fill my life with lots of tech, think again—some of these privacy risks are hidden inside seemingly safe items like your TV…and your privacy even can be endangered by the tech that your neighbors install.
If you’re wondering, Why would anyone bother to monitor me?, the answer is simple—your personal data can be turned into profit. The more companies learn about you, the more money they can make by tailoring their marketing efforts specifically to you or by selling that data to other companies.
But these privacy risks run much deeper than just advertising—if your personal data falls into the wrong hands, it could be used to scam you, stalk you or steal from you…and digital data does have an unfortunate habit of falling into the wrong hands.
Example: Last year, the personal information of more than 500 million Facebook users was posted online in a massive data leak. Hackers then were able to use that data to impersonate users and commit fraud, introducing a lot of financial stress and anxiety into victims’ lives.
You do have some protection if you live in California—by law, consumers there can see any data that a company has collected about them and/or insist that this data be deleted. A handful of other states—such as Virginia and Colorado—also have some online privacy protections in place, and a growing number of states are working to include privacy protection laws at the state level.
But for most of the country, consumers’ digital-privacy protections are limited. Companies that collect consumer data often allow customers to opt out of certain privacy intrusions—but most make it challenging to determine how to do that…and consumers who attempt to do so inevitably are warned that opting out will reduce the functionality of their app or tech device.
Among the modern tech and apps that could be putting your privacy at risk—and what to do to protect yourself…
Exercise equipment and wearable fitness trackers. The pandemic led millions of people to let their gym memberships lapse, and many discovered they preferred the privacy of exercising at home. Problem: Modern workout tech, such as from Peloton and SoulCycle, record data related to their users’ health and physical activities, information that can be sold, shared and used to send targeted ads. Example: If you don’t use your treadmill for a few weeks, you might start to receive ads for weight-loss products. Warning: Most makers of Internet-enabled exercise equipment exploit user data to some degree, but NordicTrack treadmill privacy protections are particularly weak.
Wearable fitness trackers pose an even greater privacy risk. These learn lots of extremely personal information about wearers, such as when and how much they sleep and when they feel stressed and relaxed. They even can learn women’s menstrual cycles and identify pregnancy very early—sometimes before women have shared the news with anyone else.
What to do: If you wear a fitness tracker, consider a Garmin product, such as Garmin Vívoactive (Garmin.com). Garmin has stronger, more responsible data-management policies than other major companies in this sector, though even its data security isn’t perfect. If you’re in the market for exercise equipment—a treadmill, a recumbent bike, etc.—the only truly private options are ones that don’t connect to the Internet or apps.
Home-security products and video doorbells. Smile—you’re probably on camera. The security cameras in stores and traffic cameras above roads are the tip of the iceberg—approximately one in five homes has digital home-security products and/or a video doorbell, and that figure is climbing. Even if you haven’t installed digital cameras on your own property, some of your neighbors likely have—and that can invade your privacy. A nearby home’s camera could record your comings and goings…who visits your home…what you do in your yard…and even what you do inside your home when you’re near a window. Video doorbells often include microphones, so this tech could record your private conversations. Even if your neighbors don’t use their digital security and doorbell cameras to spy on you, the footage from these devices usually is uploaded to the cloud where it’s vulnerable to hackers and government snooping.
What to do: If you want to install digital video security and/or a video doorbell but still prioritize privacy, select a system such as Eufy (EufyLife.com), which stores data on a device located on your property, not in the cloud, reducing the odds that anyone else will gain unauthorized access to it. If your neighbors install digital video security products, ask them to position these so that they do not record your property.
In some states, such as New York, you can file a civil case if you feel your privacy is being invaded by a neighbor’s smart camera. And in a recent case in the UK, a British man was fined $137,000 for privacy violations of his neighbor.
Also: Keep in mind that you’re probably being recorded whenever you’re near someone else’s home.
Mental health apps. Depression and anxiety rates rose dramatically during the pandemic, and a range of mental health apps promised help. Some of these apps walk users through behavioral therapy exercises…others offer mood-tracking digital journals, artificial intelligence (AI)–based therapy and guided meditation. But unlike information shared with professional therapists, the information gathered by these apps is not protected by doctor-patient privacy laws…and the companies that make these apps often take full advantage of that loophole, sharing this extremely sensitive data with third-party marketing firms and others. Exception: If you interact with a real-life therapist through an app, those interactions likely are protected by doctor-patient privacy laws just as if you’d met with that therapist in person.
What to do: If an app helps you through difficult times, it could be worth using—just be aware that you might be trading away a measure of privacy to do so. If that’s not a trade you’re willing to make, meet with a real-life therapist either in person or remotely. Or, if appropriate, contact the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988—it’s free and confidential.
Voice-recognition tech including smart speakers, virtual assistants and AI call centers. You probably know that interactive “smart speakers” such as Amazon’s Alexa-enabled Echo Dot and Google’s Nest Mini learn a lot about their users—but you might assume that the data they accumulate is no different than what Amazon or Google learns when people use their websites to order products or access information. But there is a difference: When you interact verbally with modern tech, that tech isn’t just learning about you based on what you say…it’s also gleaning personal information from your voice. The AI at work in smart speakers and corporate AI-enabled call centers can figure out the speaker’s age, race, weight and even height with amazing speed and accuracy. That could affect how your call to a company’s help line is handled or what products the company tries to market to you. AI even can identify verbal clues pointing to certain health problems, including neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s. It’s easy to imagine a hacker getting his hands on this information, then targeting people in the early stages of neurological decline for scams.
What to do: Don’t buy smart speakers or use other virtual-assistant–enabled devices unless you’re willing to accept that you might be sharing demographic and health details about yourself. Reach out to corporate customer service departments via online text chat rather than by phone if you’d prefer not to reveal details about yourself.
Video streaming. Virtually every modern TV is a “smart TV” capable of connecting to the Internet. If you have one of these, there’s a good chance it’s tracking what and when you watch, information that can be used to target you with ads. Example: If you watch a romantic comedy on a Friday evening, marketers might conclude that you’re single but want a relationship and start sending you ads for dating apps. Smart TVs aren’t just tracking the videos you stream on Netflix and other services—their “Automatic Content Recognition” (ACR) technology can track the shows and movies you watch on cable, over-the-air broadcast and DVD as well.
What to do: Disable data collection in your TV’s settings menu. If you can’t figure out how to do this on your TV—manufacturers don’t make this setting easy to find—enter “ACR” plus your TV’s brand name and/or model name into a search engine to find directions for turning off its ACR system.
