Walked into a smart home showroom in Denver and felt like I was being watched

I went to one of those futuristic home stores last Saturday in the RiNo district. Every light and speaker in the demo unit turned on the second I stepped through the door, before I even touched anything. The sales guy said it was a motion and identity sensor combo, but nobody asked if I wanted my data collected. Is this level of tracking in a store really necessary, or are we just normalizing surveillance for convenience?

3 comments

3 Comments

spencer_park261mo ago

You ever think about how many times you've been tracked without knowing it? I used to roll my eyes at people getting weirded out by smart home stuff, called it paranoid. Then my buddy installed a "smart" thermostat that sent him weekly reports on when he left for work and how late he stayed out. The store demo you saw is just a sales trick, but the real kicker is they're training you to accept that level of watching before you even buy anything. Once you're used to it in the store, you'll let it into your own house without a second thought. I changed my mind when my own sister's new place had a doorbell that logged every single time her kid came home from school.

daniel1401mo ago

Man hold on, I don't totally agree with the thermostat thing. My buddy has one of those Nest thermostats and it doesn't send him weekly reports unless he sets it up that way. The default is actually pretty basic, just shows you your energy use. The real sneaky stuff comes from the apps you give permission to without reading the fine print. But yeah, your point about the doorbell logging the kid's comings and goings is spot on, that's way too much data for a doorbell to hold onto. I'm still not totally sold on the whole "they're training you in the store" thing though, I think most people just buy a smart speaker for the music and convenience, not because they got used to it at Best Buy.

mia7001mo ago

Reminds me when my dad thought his phone was listening to him and it actually was lol