New survey shows consumers are wary of smart home devices invading their privacy

US consumer interest in connected home products is on the rise, but privacy concerns persist. Nearly half of US consumers (48%) intend to buy at least one smart home device in 2018, a 66% rise year-over-year (YoY), according to Parks Associates.

However, a new survey of 2,000 US consumers conducted by enterprise technology provider Ooma shows that, despite this spike, consumers still have privacy and security concerns about smart home products.

Here are two key takeaways from the survey:

• 87% of respondents aren’t comfortable with in-home delivery services like Amazon Key. In addition, 88% feel negatively about companies using their personal data to figure out when they are likely to be home, potentially in order to time deliveries so they don’t miss their customers.
• Users want systems that help secure their homes, but don’t steal their personal data. Slightly less than half (47%) of respondents said detecting burglars is a top benefit of smart home products, and 43% similarly cited monitoring what’s happening outside and inside their homes when they’re away. At the same time, 72% of respondents who already own a smart security system told Ooma they’re worried home security companies will invade their privacy, and 23% of connected security system owners said they deactivate their system completely when they have guests over. This paradox shows US consumers want the benefits of smart home devices, yet don’t feel entirely comfortable will the intangible costs

Smart home providers will need to prioritize security and privacy to catalyze mass adoption of their products, but this won’t come without challenges. The data shows consumers don’t want smart home companies spying on them, but do want them to help prevent harmful intruders by monitoring the whole home, which they could do through encrypting or deleting their users’ home data shortly after it’s captured. However, even if providers encrypt or delete this data, they’ll still need to convince their customers that they’re doing this effectively. That will likely be challenging, given users’ already prevalent privacy concerns.

Through an exclusive study and in-depth research into the field, Business Insider Intelligence (Business Insider’s premium research service) details the components that make up the IoT ecosystem. We size the IoT market and use exclusive data to identify key trends in device installations and investment. And we profile the enterprise and consumer IoT segments individually, drilling down into the drivers and characteristics that are shaping each market.

Here are some key takeaways from the report:

• We project that there will be more than 55 billion IoT devices by 2025, up from about 9 billion in 2017.
• We forecast that there will be nearly $15 trillion in aggregate IoT investment between 2017 and 2025, with survey data showing that companies’ plans to invest in IoT solutions are accelerating.
• The report highlights the opinions and experiences of IoT decision-makers on topics that include: drivers for adoption; major challenges and pain points; deployment and maturity of IoT implementations; investment in and utilization of devices; the decision-making process; and forward- looking plans.

In full, the report:

• Provides a primer on the basics of the IoT ecosystem.
• Offers forecasts for the IoT moving forward, and highlights areas of interest in the coming years.
• Looks at who is and is not adopting the IoT, and why.
• Highlights drivers and challenges facing companies that are implementing IoT solutions.

Avots: Business Insider