Privacy Tops List of Consumer Smart Home Concerns

Smart home is one of the fastest-growing categories of new technology, but as more connected appliances and devices proliferate in our homes, it's worth taking a moment to consider the concerns, including privacy issues.

Google's recent privacy gaffe drew a new wave of attention to smart home privacy concerns: It turned out the company's Nest Secure smart speaker has a built-in microphone that Google forgot to mention. PCMag recently surveyed 2,075 US consumers age 18 and older about everything related to smart homes, including their biggest concerns about the technology.

The Nest Secure controversy is only the latest privacy issue affecting smart home tech, including smart assistant such as Alexa and Google Assistant. For 40 percent of respondents, always-on devices that are constantly watching or listening to what you're doing and saying is a major concern for consumers considering buying smart home tech.

Next to privacy, 35 percent of survey respondents are most concerned with the cost of buying numerous connected devices to automate their home life. Another 20 percent of respondents are daunted by the installation process, and 17 percent are simply having trouble choosing products in the saturated smart home market.

The fierce competition among tech companies hawking smart speakers, security systems, appliances, and more also means it can be tough to integrate smart home tech bought from different providers. As such, 12 percent of respondents were most concerned about how or even whether one smart home device will interact with the other devices in your home.