The English consumer protection association Which? alert on data sent by several Airfryer models from major brands.
The Aifryers once again in the sights of privacy defenders. The English consumer protection association Which? launches an alert about these products which are all the rage on social networks. According to the organization, certain connected models belonging to major brands tend to transmit sensitive information.
Xiaomi, Cosori and Aigostar singled out
Xiaomi, Cosori and Aigostar are singled out, because the companion applications of these devices send personal data such as the location of the smartphone, but also the user’s address and their gender to servers located in China.
If these brands clearly specify that they collect this data in their conditions of use, Which? instead sees it as “excessive collection” with “little transparency on their use.”
This is not the first time that Airfryers have been singled out for this reason. During the launch of Monsieur Cuisine Connect from Lidl, a more accessible competitor to the Thermomix, it appeared that a microphone was present, without any mention of it in the instructions for use. If it was inactive, it could nevertheless be activated by the most hacky users, creating a potential breach, for example to listen to a user without their knowledge.
At the time, Lidl defended itself by explaining that for a time its Monsieur Cuisine Connect was intended to use Alexa, by giving orders by voice. The brand had specified that it was not possible to activate it remotely.
As for the brands cited by Which?, the specialist in the fight against pirate software, MalwareBytes, which is relaying this investigation, explains that it does not understand why the applications of these Airfryers request so much data: “This serves “Is there a purpose for you, the user, or is it just a manufacturer being too curious?”
Some advice is then given, including reading the privacy policy of each manufacturer. You can also agree or not to install a dedicated application, but also to grant it certain permissions: “The manufacturers count on the fact that you will not read the privacy policy, but there are things that there are very revealing.”
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