While the U.S. and China support the connected homes, a concept in which household appliances and home electronics are seamlessly connected to internet, India raises concern about its security and privacy issues, says a new survey.
A survey ‘Internet of Things: Connected homes, conducted by Fortinet revealed that 84 percent in China and 61 percent in the U.S. who have participated in the survey support the connected home concepts. However, rest of them raised concerns about the privacy and security.
Homeowners are concerned about data breaches – A majority of all respondents voiced their concern that a connected appliance could result in a data breach or exposure of sensitive, personal information. Globally, 69 percent said that they were either “extremely concerned” or “somewhat concerned” about this issue.
Privacy and trust are concerns – When asked about the privacy of collected data, a majority of global respondents stated, “privacy is important to me, and I do not trust how this type of data may be used.” India led the world with this response at 63 percent. Fifty-seven percent in the U.S. agreed with this statement.
Users demand control over who can access collected data – When asked who should have access to the data collected by a connected home appliance, 66 percent stated that only themselves or those to whom they give permission should have this information.
Seventy percent of those in the U.S. wanted personal control over collected data. Around one-quarter of Americans felt that either the device manufacturer or their ISP should have access to the collected data.
Although homeowners report a willingness to pay more to enable their connected home, when asked what factors impact their buying decisions of connected home devices, the number one answer that was consistent in all countries was price, followed by features/functionality and then manufacturer brand.
“The battle for the Internet of Things has just begun. According to industry research firm IDC, the IoT market is expected to hit $7.1 trillion by 2020. The winners of the IoT connected home will come down to those vendors who can provide a balance of security and privacy vis-à-vis price and functionality,” said John Maddison, vice president, Fortinet.
editor@infotechlead.com
