Smart home appliances and other wireless devices have made the home more convenient and enjoyable. However, these conveniences often come at the expense of privacy. If you're concerned about your privacy, here's a list of seven devices you can disconnect from your Wi-Fi to better protect your personal space.
1. Smart speaker
Smart speakers are actively listening even when they shouldn’t be. If you have an Amazon Echo or Google Nest, you’re probably familiar with wake words like “Alexa” or “Hey Google.” These speakers are actively listening to your surroundings to figure out those wake words, and they can track you in the process. You don’t have to completely turn off Wi-Fi on these devices, but turning off the connection when it’s not needed can improve your personal privacy.
2. Smart kitchen appliances
It may seem strange, but many smart kitchen appliances are often Wi-Fi enabled. Your refrigerator can track expiration dates or suggest recipes. Your oven needs an app to preheat while you’re still at the grocery store. Many of these gadgets are often gimmicks that don’t actually add much to the functionality of your kitchen appliance.
Try turning off Wi-Fi on these devices for a week and see which ones actually need Internet access. After some consideration, you can turn off Wi-Fi completely or partially on devices that you don't find useful to have Wi-Fi on.
3. Child monitoring device
Baby monitors have come a long way, offering high-resolution video, motion tracking, and even sleep insights. People use them with Wi-Fi for easy setup. But if you’re concerned about your child’s privacy, you may want to take the time to install a wired baby monitor and turn off Wi-Fi entirely. If you really need a wireless connection, there are also Wi-Fi-free baby monitors that operate on a dedicated radio frequency to transmit audio and video signals without an Internet connection.
4. Security camera
Security cameras can be a great way to keep an eye on your property, but if they’re always online, they can record and send data continuously. This can leave you vulnerable to hacking or unauthorized access, especially if your passwords aren’t strong. Like baby monitors, most security cameras offer the option of a wired connection.
Again, if you want better security and privacy, it’s best to disable Wi-Fi on these cameras and use a wired connection instead. If your cameras use SD cards for local storage and don’t need to be monitored directly, you can even skip the cable and just transfer the data directly from the SD card to your computer when an event that needs to be reviewed occurs.
5. Printer
If you print documents every day or regularly need to send print jobs from multiple devices, Wi-Fi on your printer may be necessary. But if you only print occasionally and use a single computer to send print jobs, you should disable Wi-Fi on your printer entirely and use a wired connection. Wi-Fi-connected printers are notoriously easy targets for hackers.
6. Digital photo frame
Digital photo frames have gone beyond simple slideshows. Many now offer cloud storage, allowing you to add photos directly from your phone. But that also means they’re often connected to Wi-Fi, where your photos are stored online. Unless you want to change your photos frequently, you should only turn on Wi-Fi on these devices when you need to change photos.
7. Robot vacuum cleaner
Robot vacuums can map the layout of your home for efficient cleaning — and they can also be a big privacy risk. Companies often use the data collected in their robot vacuums to further improve their products, but they can also share that data with third-party partners. Data breaches can also occur, allowing anyone to view your data. Furthermore, skilled hackers with access to your Wi-Fi can also steal this data and learn the layout of your home.
If you want to improve your privacy, you may want to disable Wi-Fi on these vacuums and use the remote control instead. You may lose some smart features, but it will save you from worrying about data sharing and leaks.
These steps may seem small, but they make a big difference to your digital privacy. You don’t have to completely turn off Wi-Fi on your smart devices, but at least monitor and disconnect where necessary!
Writing on photos is a much better way to convey messages and express love than regular photos, which do not allow text to be inserted into the photo. Usually, photo editing applications on phones provide the feature of writing on photos with many unique fonts and styles.
Whether you're nostalgic or not, the iconic Snake game that came pre-installed on old Nokia phones is hard to forget. It still exists in countless versions today, including one from Spotify.
Some people decide to go with the default Internet browser that Samsung provides on Galaxy devices. It's simple, customizable, private, and packed with useful features.
Along with ChatGPT, this tutorial will show you how the Bulk Create app works in Canva. You'll be amazed at how you can create a month's worth of content in just a few minutes.
Can AI compete with traditional design tools? And when is the best time to use them?
Which status of jealousy and envy makes you feel the most? The article will summarize for you the best status of jealousy and envy on the Internet.
There are many good quotes about silence in life on the Internet. This article will summarize for you good quotes about how to look at life.
Meta and Spotify have been developing an MSN-like feature that would allow Instagram users to see in real time the music they're listening to.
A picture can say a thousand words. So why would you want to add text to a photo? Instagram seems to think it’s a good option to offer to all of its users.
Apple is working on a human-like interface based on Generative AI that could control Apple's future tabletop devices and robotic devices.
Android users can now use Gemini instead of Google Assistant to use more advanced features on Gemini virtual assistant.
Gemini now allows you to chat with images, search information from images on Gemini. Gemini will analyze the image you upload and from there give you the information you want to find.
Users can now edit those images right in Copilot without having to use additional image editing software.
When you download an Excel file from the internet, the table format may not match your data table creation requirements. If so, you can remove the table format in Excel.
While Apple Watch is a great way to track your daily fitness, send messages, and more, what happens if your Apple Watch won't pair?
