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Smart home appliances and other wireless devices have made homes much more convenient and enjoyable. However, these conveniences often come at the cost of poor privacy. If you’re concerned about your privacy, here’s a breakdown of seven devices you’re able to disconnect from Wi-Fi to protect your personal space better.
1Smart Speakers
Smart speakers are actively listening even when they shouldn’t. If you have an Amazon Echo or Google Nest, you’re probably aware of wake words like “Alexa” or “Hey Google.” These speakers actively listen to their surroundings for these wake words andpossibly spy on you in the process. You don’t have to completely disable Wi-Fi on these devices, but turning off the connection when you don’t need it can improve personal privacy. On top of that, you’re able to also do the following:
Smart speakers are great, but don’t let them impact your privacy.
2Smart Kitchen Appliances
It might seem strange, but many smart kitchen appliances are often Wi-Fi enabled. Your refrigerator may track expiration dates or suggest recipes. Your oven might have an app to preheat while you’re still at the grocery store. Many of these conveniences are often gimmicks that don’t really add much to the kitchen appliance’s functionality.
Try disabling Wi-Fi on these devices for a week and see which appliances actually need an internet connection. After deliberation, you can completely or partially disable Wi-Fi on appliances you don’t see useful with Wi-Fi connectivity.
3Baby Monitors
Baby monitors have come a long way, offering high-resolution video, motion tracking, and even sleep insights. People use them with Wi-Fi for ease of setting up. But if you care about your baby’s privacy, you may want to take some time to install the baby monitor with cables and disable Wi-Fi completely. If you really need a wireless connection, there are alsonon-Wi-Fi baby monitorsthat operate on dedicated radio frequencies to transmit audio and video signals without an internet connection.
4Security Cameras
Security cameras can be a great way to monitor your property, but if they’re online all the time, they may be recording and sending data constantly. This can make you vulnerable to hacking or unauthorized access, especially if your password isn’t strong. Just like baby monitors, most security cameras provide options for wired connection.
Again, if you want better privacy and security, it would be better if you disabled Wi-Fi on these cameras and used wired connectivity instead. If your camera uses an SD card for local storage, and you don’t need live monitoring, you may even skip the cables and simply transfer data directly from the SD card to your computer when events that need review have occurred.
If you print documents daily or frequently need to send jobs from multiple devices, Wi-Fi on your printer might be necessary. But if you only print occasionally and use one computer to send the print job, you should completely disable Wi-Fi on your printer and use a wired connection. Wi-Fi-connected printers are famouslyknown as easy targets for hackers.
6Digital Photo Frames
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Digital photo frames have moved beyond simple slideshows. Many now offer cloud storage, allowing you to add photos directly from your phone. But that also means these frames are frequently connected to Wi-Fi, which stores your photos online. Unless you change photos frequently, you should only turn on Wi-Fi connectivity on these devices when you’re changing the photos.
7Robot Vacuums
Robot vacuums can map your home layout to clean efficiently—and they can also be a giant privacy risk. Companies often use collected data in their robot vacuums to further improve products, but they can also share it with third-party partners. Data leaks can also occur and allow people to see your data. Furthermore, skilled hackers with access to your Wi-Fi can also steal this data and get an idea of your house layout.
If you want to improve privacy, you may want to disable Wi-Fi on these vacuums and use the remote instead. You’ll probably lose certain smart features, but it will keep your floors clean—minus the data-sharing and possible leaks.
These steps might seem small, but they make a big difference to your digital privacy. You don’t have to disable Wi-Fi on your smart devices completely, but you should at least take control and disconnect where it counts!
