With cloud hosted services and Internet of Things (IoT) devices, there have been many concerns about privacy and security. Big tech companies often sell your personal information especially when the services are offered for “free” and vendors of IoT devices continue to push products out the door with little concern for security. Data breaches are a big concern for IoT devices for home users in particular since they do not have the technical knowledge or desire to lock down their devices and networks.
Also, cloud services may be shut down on short notice and IoT devices will quickly become unsupported by the vendor since they do not invest in long term support. Cloud services have control of the data you provide to them, and IoT devices often phone home to send various telemetry data which may contain personal information. The data which is collected and shared is often buried in User Agreements and Terms and Conditions documents written in legalese. Transparent companies may be upfront with the data collected even though it may be hard to find it. Other not-so-transparent companies may not fully disclose everything properly or are very vague when describing the data collected.
The smart home
Smart home devices often fall into both categories mentioned above – they are typically IoT devices but are also cloud connected. The cloud connection makes it easy for users to set up everything in their smart homes and allow users to access their smart home remotely. The tradeoff for such convenience is giving up control of your personal data and potentially decreased security.
What can be done?
Is there anything that can be done about this situation? Yes! If you are tech savvy or want to learn more about technology, you may create your own private smart home so you are in more control of your personal data. This blog was created to assist you in your journey.
Now is the time!
Many more people are working from home than in the past so now is a great time to learn about home automation and IoT devices. You may find yourself having more free time and you want to use the time to learn new skills. This is a fun area to explore, but it can get expensive if you are not careful because it can be addicting!
The goal
The goal for this blog is to grow slowly over time as the website author gains more experience with self-hosting smart home technology. The author has begun the private smart home journey but desires to dive much deeper into this area as time goes on.
