Nearly half of all Americans have at least one smart speaker in their household, and you may have found that you, yourself, have become a new owner of one after this past holiday season. A Google Home or Echo Dot may seem like a great investment that can add a layer of convenience to your daily life, from finding out how the weather is to turning on lights, but is owning them really your smartest move? 

Be Aware of the Risks

Because they need to be able to hear your wake phrase (“Hey Google” or “Alexa”), smart speakers feature an “always-on” microphone. This means that even if the speaker isn’t actively in use, it’s always “listening”. This can quickly prove to be a threat to your privacy.

In order to process and respond to what you request of your smart speaker, the audio is stored– both locally on the device and in the cloud servers it utilizes. Depending on your privacy settings, this could mean a couple of things. Here are a couple of examples of what this data could be used for:

• Improving voice service

• To create an advertising profile on you

While neither of these examples poses a danger to you or your household, they can make some people uncomfortable. 

Can They be Hacked?

The short answer is, yes.

In fact, smart speakers can actually be a vital point of weakness in the Internet of Things (any “smart” devices that are connected to the internet), especially if you’re using a default username and password. However, the same can be said for your wireless router.

The risk of your smart speaker getting hacked becomes more dangerous if you have security cameras or a home security system, such as the popular Ring doorbells, as it can act as a “hub” that connects all of these devices and create a vulnerability. 

If you have children (or frequent guests who might not understand how to use a smart speaker), you may also run the risk of them having unauthorized access to your smart speaker. For example, it’s not unheard of for children to unknowingly order something just because a smart speaker heard them say they wanted it. 

How Can You Prevent Problems?

One of the easiest, albeit least convenient, ways to prevent these issues from occurring is to keep the device's microphone muted when you’re not using it. This can usually be done either with a physical switch on the speaker or via an app on your phone. Of course, this means you’ll have to reactivate the microphone next time you want to use your smart speaker.

You can also enable your smart speaker's voice recognition feature. While this isn’t always the most reliable, it does allow your speaker to differentiate between people’s voices most of the time, allowing you to restrict what unrecognized users can do with the device. 

It’s also important to make sure you aren’t exposing sensitive information to your smart speaker. For example, you can ask your smart speaker to pay your bills for you, but that doesn’t mean you should. Such requests run the risk of exposing information like credit card numbers, social security numbers, or passwords. 

If you or someone you know has run into any of these problems with a smart speaker, we may be able to help. Let us help you obtain Smarter Privacy– get started here!