Having your front door open automatically as you’re about to get into your home is a feature that seems really cool and convenient. With your voice, you can command devices such as your music system to play a particular track for you. Your thermostat learns your daily routine and makes sure your home’s temperature is exactly right for you as you step into your home.

These and several other features make smart homes a convenient option for individuals. However, with all the glory of smart home automation, do you feel totally secure? Would privacy in your home remain intact?

Privacy Trends in the Smart Device World

A lot of individuals disregard the number of privacy breaches that could occur in smart homes and smart devices. It happens on a larger scale than you can even imagine. There are smart devices like speakers that record everything you say in your home. A lot of IoT devices can also allow cyber-attackers access because of their low levels of encryption.

In the smart home sector, iRobot’s CEO, Colin Angle revealed that the company had been getting spatial information from users’ homes. He further stated that the data was siphoned from iRobot Roomba products through sensors. What’s more, Angle, with blatant disregard for users, mentioned the data would get shared with other firms.

These companies can’t be stopped from the numerous privacy breaches they carry out. However, you can stop them from getting a hold of your data. Below, you’ll find tips on protecting the privacy of your smart home or smart device.

Protecting the Privacy of your Smart Home

1. Utilizing a VPN
A Virtual Private Network is a tool that is increasingly being used by individuals to protect their data. No smart homeowner wants a cybercriminal to spy on his/her internet and daily activity. To prevent this, a VPN can be used to disguise online traffic flowing in and out of a device.

When you use a VPN, you envelop IP packets with the Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE) or Internet Protocol Security (IPSec) protocol. This prevents the hacker from having knowledge of the source and destination addresses of your network’s data packets.

With a VPN for your router, all the IoT devices linking to your router could be protected. In essence, a hijacker attempting to gain access to your data or spy on your internet traffic would be unsuccessful when you use a VPN.

2. Disable Smart TV Recording
Your smart TV could be recording everything being said in your home. Because TVs can now connect to the internet and even run applications, automatic content recognition (ACR0 can spy on your activity. To disable this, head over to your smart TV’s settings and disable the ‘viewing data’ option.

Note that this could stop functions like voice commands from working.

3. Change Router Name and Password
Change the default name of your router to prevent it from being identified by passersby or neighbors. This way, the router would not be recognized by its make or model, and the default password gotten.

Also, endeavor to change the password on your router. Using the default password could prove risky because a hacker would be able to spy on your activity after hijacking your home network. you could use a password manager to create a strong password for your router.

Conclusion
Spying has taken a whole different turn from how it used to be. To breach one’s privacy 5 decades ago, a person needed to hire a private detective. A little over 2 decades ago, all you needed was a phone wiretap. Nowadays, anyone’s privacy can be breached simply by hacking devices.

To protect yourself, you can use a VPN for your smart home.

Smart Home Systems : Trends and Concerns by Julie Hughes | TurnOnVPN