Mozilla researchers spent over 950 hours examining 151 popular connected gifts, identifying 47 that had what they called „problematic privacy practices.“
Mozilla has released the latest edition of its *Privacy Not Included shopping guide, aiming to provide holiday buyers with a concrete list of how the most popular items handle privacy issues. Mozilla researchers spent over 950 hours examining 151 popular connected gifts, identifying 47 that had what they called „problematic privacy practices.“ The worst, according to Mozilla, include Facebook Portal, Amazon Echo, NordicTrack Treadmill and other workout tools. Not all of the products examined were bad, and Mozilla found that about 22 did a good job of protecting user privacy by not collecting, selling, or sharing data. These devices ranged from the iRobot Roomba to the Garmin Venu and Apple Homepod Mini. The researchers sought to figure out whether items had cameras, microphones or location tracking features as well as any other tools that collected data on users. Mozilla also examined whether devices used encryption or forced users to have strong passwords. Jen Caltrider, *Privacy Not Included lead researcher, told ZDNet that while gadgets may be getting smarter, they are also getting creepier and far more prone to security lapses and data leaks — even among leading companies like Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook.
