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Almost every company will use your data for analysis of some kind, such as your security app activity. Lately, many are also recruiting videos to train their AI if you sign up for cloud storage. Your best bet is to look for companies such as Ecobee that require you to opt in for sharing data for wider purposes, and companies that offer settings to automatically erase stored data or not to use it for analysis. Setting up your own privacy zones can also help limit what companies have access to.  For more information, check out my guide on the Alexa settings you should change for privacy, and the

A privacy zone is an area you draw across a security camera's field of view to mark that spot as off-limits, meaning the camera won't detect motion there. Within those zones, the camera won't record or send alerts triggered by movement. That's very helpful in common real-life situations. For example, there may be a deck or walkway at your home where your loved ones come and go, and you don't want your security camera constantly eavesdropping on them. You may also want to block off a nearby sidewalk so you don't get constant alerts about people jogging past in the morning. Privacy zones may eve

In 2026, the FCC banned foreign-made Wi-Fi routers for national security reasons — sort of. The reasons are complicated, and exemptions were quickly provided for top router brands like Netgear, so I don’t blame you if you don’t know what to think about router privacy. We spoke to several security experts, and unless you have to buy a new router right away, there’s not much to worry about. No sudden security threat has made routers any less safe to use than they were before, but as always, strong security practices will help keep you safe. If you’re interested in off-the-grid options, check out

I like many Nest/Home products, but Nest's approach to security and privacy is a mixed bag. Similar to Amazon, Google is happy to gather as much data as possible and has been sued multiple times for violating privacy restrictions set by states and countries. While Nest itself has remained largely free of vulnerabilities thanks to Google's own security policies, a couple of notable issues give me pause. There was that infamous incident where early Home speakers accidentally eavesdropped on users in 2017 (something that has not happened since). More recently, a study found that promptware or Gem