Your air fryer, and likely any other app-connected device in your life, is harvesting a ton of your personal information. UK and US watchdogs have noticed and are trying to curtail the flow and sale of this data.

Picture the scene: You're gathering with family for the holidays and everyone is opening their presents. Your spouse gets the new air fryer you've been eyeing. You're excited, ready to see what this thing can do with potatoes when your partner leans in and gives you the warning.

"It's the best on the market, just make sure you don't speak loudly when you use it."

Confused about why you can't talk about your new kitchen gadget, you ask your partner why. "Well," they said. “This is an air fryer. You need an app to use it and the app records everything your phone hears.

This is the sad reality of air fryers and hundreds of other consumer products today. More of our devices are connected than ever before, all running apps, all collecting data on us that is fed into power-guzzling data centers. A November report from UK consumer advocacy group Which? detailed some of the worst offenders.

The team looked at Amazon's top-rated air fryers and studied the privacy risks around them. It goes without saying that the machine you use to mash potatoes shouldn't listen to you, but it does. Your air fryer, in fact, may know more about you than some of your friends.

"In the air fryer category, as well as knowing the exact location of customers, all three products ask permission to record audio on the user's phone, for no specific reason. The Xiaomi app is linked to his air fryer connected to trackers from Facebook, Pangle (the ad network of TikTok for Business), and Chinese tech giant Tencent (depending on the user's location). Aigostar's air fryer wants to know the gender and date of birth when setting up an owner account, again for no apparent reason, but it's optional. Both Aigostar and Xiaomi fryer send people's personal data to servers in China, though it is flagged in the privacy notice.

Where? also looked at smart watches, smart TVs, watches, and other gadgets that will be placed under Christmas trees this year. The results were very poor across the board. Every electronic device you own is spying on you, especially if it's connected to an app on your phone.

Most of us know this. We accept it as part of living in the modern world. There are ways around this, of course. You can use a Pi-Hole or similar device to redirect data collection or avoid using apps. The safest option is to opt out completely and never use smart devices.

But it doesn't have to be this way. Every piece of technology doesn't have to be a devil's bargain where we let a tech company read our phone's contact list so we can turn off an oven. More and more people are upset about this issue and are complaining to their government. Watchdog groups in the UK and US are paying attention.

In Britain, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO)—a watchdog group that reports to parliament—said it plans provide new guidance in early 2025 around data collection. "The ICO is working on new guidance for manufacturers of smart products that will be published in the spring of 2025. The guidance will outline clear expectations for what they must do to comply with the protection laws of data and, in turn, protect people who use smart products, ” Slavka Bielikova, the chief policy advisor of the ICO said after the report by Which? hit the news.

"The guidance will outline clear expectations for what they must do to comply with data protection laws and, in turn, protect people who use smart products," said Bielikova. "Our guidance will allow manufacturers to plan and invest in the use of information responsibly. We want to help organizations get it right, however if they are not ready we will act to ensure that consumers are protected from damage

In the United States, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). looking for a fight an adjacent but connected problem. Much of the data hoovered by smart devices ends up being sold and traded on the internet by shady data brokers. it Congress asked to give it more power to go after data brokers who sell America's sensitive information on the open market.

"By selling our most sensitive personal data without our knowledge or consent, data marketers can profit by enabling fraud, stalking, and surveillance," Rohit Chopra, Director of the CFPB said in a statement about the proposal. "The CFPB's proposed rule will prevent these practices that threaten our personal safety and undermine America's national security."

The CFPB is not asking the US to pass a new law, it just wants to enforce the Fair Credit Reporting Act, a consumer privacy law passed in 1970. Currently, data brokers are exempt from the law. The CFPB wants to close the loophole they are running through.

The CFPB announced this request on December 3. How much will a consumer-focused regulatory agency established in 2011 buy from the incoming Trump administration? It's impossible to know, but the signs are not good. Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency are scoffing at eliminating sacred cows like veteran benefits. It's hard to imagine a future where a small, lesser-known agency isn't targeted by the new regime.

No one is coming to save you from your air fryer, I say. It's best to keep the apps on your phone and buy the dumbest devices you can