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In the never-ending battle to keep our homes private, there is yet another new worry: your beloved air fryer. UK consumer group Which? found smart air fryers packed with data-gathering tech, all while silently cooking up your favorite meals—but they’re far from the only household item stealing your data.
Your Air Fryer Is Cooking Up Some Privacy Issues
Which?tested three popular air fryers—the Cosori CAF-LI401S, Aigostar Air Fryer 7L, and Xiaomi Mi Smart—and found varying privacy issues concerning data collection, security, and tracking.
Product Type
Brand & Model
Privacy Score
Transparency
Data Security
Data Minimisation
Data Deletion
Smart Air Fryer
Cosori CAF-LI401S
Aigostar Air Fryer 7L
Xiaomi Mi Smart
The privacy issues stem from the use of apps recording audio while connecting to advertising networks and sharing information. For example, the Xiaomi air fryer connects to trackers from Facebook, Pangle (TikTok for Business ad network), and Tencent (Chinese tech-giant). The Aigostar air fryer also connected to China-based servers, though it’s worth noting that this is made clear in the device’s privacy notice. (Whether people take the time to read these privacy notices is a whole different issue!)
Each smart air fryer requested permission to listen to and record audio from the user’s phone, which is one of the most concerning issues. Now, given that this is likely just to be for voice control, the overall request seems benign. But given the difficulty in tracking when a microphone is in use and that you cannot access the app for each device without agreeing to these terms, it’s concerning.
Given each air fryer scored 1/5 for trackers, it’s worth paying attention to the permissions you have to give to access these apps. As the report notes, the Aigostar air fryer “demanded a staggering nine” different permissions to use the app—an utterly ridiculous amount of access for an air fryer app.
Harry Rose, Which? magazine editor, said: ‘Our research shows how smart tech manufacturers and the firms they work with are currently able to collect data from consumers with what seems to be reckless abandon, and this is often done with little or no transparency."
And the issues extend far beyond air fryers.
It’s Not Just Air Fryers Breaching Your Privacy
The Which? study found plenty of other smart household items with privacy concerns, including smart TVs, speakers, and watches.
LG 43UR78006LK
Samsung UE43CU7100KXXU
Hisense 40A4KTUK
Smart Speaker
Amazon Echo Pop
Google Nest Mini (2nd Gen)
Portable Home Speaker
Smartwatch
WeurGhy Y6
Huawei Ultimate
So, there are privacy issues across the board. Youcan’t trust your smart TV to protect your privacy, and certainly not your smartwatch or smartphone. But who knew we would be adding our smart air fryers to that list, too?
