Parents' ultimate guide to smart devices
Are smart speakers like Google Home and Amazon's Echo OK for kids?
If a genie were to grant your every household-management wish, you'd waste no time making demands: "Add milk to my grocery list"; "Lock the doors"; "Help my kid with algebra"! The same kind of magic can be had in smart devices -- for a price (in this case, your data). But internet-enabled products aren't going "poof" anytime soon. In fact, more than six in 10 parents say their young kids interact with voice-activated assistants. So if you're weighing the pros and consof products such as smart watches, smart speakers, and even smartphones that track pretty much everything you do, a peek behind the curtain will help you determine whether the benefits to your family are worth it.
This guide tells you all about smart devices -- what they are, what they can do for you and your family, how to use them as safely as possible, and how to protect your family's privacy in a world increasingly powered by data.
What are smart devices?
How do smart products work?
What are the different kinds of smart products?
What are some useful, educational, and fun ways to use a home assistant?
What kinds of information do smart devices collect?
What is COPPA, and how does it protect my child?
How can I limit the data my smart devices collect?
What are the real privacy risks of using smart products?
Could my smart devices get hacked?
What's the safest way for my family to use smart devices?
How do smart products work?
What are the different kinds of smart products?
What are some useful, educational, and fun ways to use a home assistant?
What kinds of information do smart devices collect?
What is COPPA, and how does it protect my child?
How can I limit the data my smart devices collect?
What are the real privacy risks of using smart products?
Could my smart devices get hacked?
What's the safest way for my family to use smart devices?
What are smart devices?
The "smart" part refers to any device that communicates with other devices over the internet. These types of products can save time, effort, money, and even human life. Smart speakers, such as Google Home and Amazon's Echo, make it easy to play music, get homework help, and make a grocery list. Smart thermostats and lights can reduce your energy bill. And smart medical devices can alert your doctor when your kid's asthma flares up.
How do smart products work?
Unlike "dumb" electronics, smart products use a combination of data and sophisticated software calculations to do what you want them to do. They can take information from a variety of sources, including human voices, sensors that monitor the environment, biometrics (thumbprints and faces), and apps, so every product performs a little differently for each person.
But the biggest difference between smart devices and regular ones are that they need you -- specifically your data -- to customize to your needs. And all that data needs to go somewhere, so it's usually stored in the "cloud" (basically, giant computer servers) out of your sight and mostly out of your CONTINUE READING: Parents' ultimate guide to smart devices | Salon.com
