Feeling Safe in the Home of the Future

The document outlines a framework for building trust in smart home technologies by addressing vulnerabilities across three phases: pre-market (design and business models), sales and setup (transparency and consent), and after-market (software updates and data rights). It highlights a significant 'crisis of trust' where consumers fear data misuse and cybersecurity breaches, and suggests that standardization and regulatory frameworks are necessary to ensure these devices are safe and transparent.

• There is a significant gap in consumer trust regarding smart home devices, with 75% of respondents distrusting how data is shared and 28% avoiding smart device purchases due to cybersecurity concerns.
• Smart home business models often rely on hidden data collection for revenue; for example, research indicates that 89% of Amazon Fire TV channels and 69% of Roku channels use tracking software to collect user viewing habits.
• Security vulnerabilities in IoT devices can lead to large-scale infrastructure attacks, such as the 2016 Mirai botnet attack which spread through routers and cameras using default passwords.
• Consumer transparency is lacking during the sales and setup phase, as 75% of users accept terms of service without reading them, and only 50% know how to disable data collection features.
• The after-market phase presents risks where the cessation of software updates can degrade product value and leave devices vulnerable to evolving cyberthreats, as seen with Sonos and new Mirai variants targeting smart TVs.
• The document proposes that trust be integrated into the product life cycle via 'privacy by design' and 'security by design' in the pre-market phase, simplified capability information during sales, and guaranteed data deletion rights in the after-market phase.

APA

World Economic Forum (2020). Feeling Safe in the Home of the Future. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Building%20Trust_in_the_Smart_Home_2020.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Feeling Safe in the Home of the Future. 2020. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Building%20Trust_in_the_Smart_Home_2020.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Feeling Safe in the Home of the Future |date=August 2020 |url=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Building%20Trust_in_the_Smart_Home_2020.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2020feeling, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Feeling Safe in the Home of the Future}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2020}, month = aug, url = {http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Building%20Trust_in_the_Smart_Home_2020.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }