Smart gadgets collect vast amounts of our personal data through their apps. It's usually unclear why the manufacturers need this information or what they do with it. And I don't just mean smartphones. All kinds of devices are quietly mining us, and few people have any idea it's happening.
Author
- Dana Lungu
Research Associate Research Institute for Sociotechnical Cyber Security, University of Bristol
Some brands of air fryers , for instance, request permission to listen in on conversations. Smart toys can also listen to and record conversations, not to mention the child's name, age and birthday . Meanwhile, certain TVs insist on seeing all the apps on your phone.
It's a bit of a barcode lottery: data collection varies from brand to brand and from one operating system to another, making it even harder for consumers to get on top of this situation. For instance, Android phone users who have smart speakers like Amazon Echo or Google Nest have to share much more personal data than those with Apple iOS devices.
If you think this all sounds worrying, you're not alone. A 2024 study by the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) found that participants were concerned about the excessive and unnecessary amount of personal information being collected by devices.
Unlike with those air fryers, much data gathering takes place without the user even having to give explicit permission. If you're wondering how this is legal given the explicit consent requirements of general data protection regulation (GDPR) , the answer lies in the lengthy technical policies buried in the fine print of privacy notices. Most consumers skim-read these or find them difficult to understand, leaving them with little sense of the choices they are making.
Privacy nutrition labels
It seems to boil down to two options. We share our personal data with the apps of smart devices and hope they will only collect routine information, or we opt out and usually have to live with limited functionality or none at all.
However, there is a middle ground that most people are unaware of: privacy nutrition labels. These allow you to take some control by understanding what personal data your gadgets are collecting, without struggling through the privacy blurb.
The trouble is they are difficult to find. They are not mentioned by consumer magazine Which? or the ICO, perhaps because they are only "recommended" by the UK government and the Federal Communications Commission in the US. Yet despite not being legally binding on manufacturers, these privacy labels have become the norm when it comes to smartphone apps, while other smart devices are gradually catching up.
Ironically, this solution came from the pioneers of smart gadgets, Apple and Google. They voluntarily adopted the idea after it was proposed by researchers in 2009 as a way of informing users that their data was being collected.
Experts at Rephrain , the UK's National Research Centre on Privacy, Harm Reduction and Adversarial Influence Online, have developed the following step-by-step guide to help consumers find their privacy labels on iPhones and Android phones (click or zoom to make the image bigger):
Once you find the relevant privacy label for the device in question, you'll see practical, concise information about what data the app collects and why. Two sections list the types of data collected: "Data Used to Track You" and "Data Linked to You" for iPhones, and "Data Shared" and "Data Collected" for Android.
By reading the privacy label before making a purchase, consumers can decide if they are comfortable with the data collected and the way it is handled.
For example, I checked the privacy label of the app for the smart toothbrush I planned to get my husband this Christmas. I found out it collects the device ID to track users across apps and websites owned by other companies, and data linked to identity such as location and contact information.
So before purchasing smart devices for your loved ones this Christmas, check the privacy labels of their apps on your smartphone. You may be surprised by what you find. This holiday season, don't just give someone a lovely present - give them the gift of data control at the same time.
This article draws on some research into privacy labels from the University of Bristol's Marvin Ramokapane and Sophia Walsh.
