Brits would share their data with tech companies for financial gain

Brits would love to share personal data with companies, for the promise of monetary gain. Not only that, but they’d give companies access to their connected home habits, if that means they’d get paid for it.

Those are the results of The Global Internet of Things Smart Home Survey. Sixty-three percent would share data about their daily habits, 61 percent would give companies access to their connected home devices, and 77 percent would do it to get bonus tax credits.

At the same time, they’re quite worried about the security implications smart homes bring. Ninety-one percent fear hackers taking control of home devices and using those devices against them.

The "virtual babysitter" device is something the majority doesn’t want in their home. Also, three quarters are anxious about the number of passwords required to keep a smart home safe.

"Smart homes produce a wealth of data about the way we live and by leveraging this data, companies have the potential to improve how we go about our daily lives", said Simon Hunt at Intel Security. "People are aware of how valuable this data is for third party companies, but this data is not just valuable for these companies it’s also like gold dust for hackers. In the rise of the Internet of Things, security has to be addressed from the outset to prevent the smart home hackers. When done right, security can unlock the benefits IoT promises to deliver".

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