Customers concerned after consumer body issue warning air fryers could be spying on users

The report is alarming

UK-based consumer body Which? Has released a report based on its privacy findings across a range of products, including air fryers, smartwatches, smart TVs and smart speakers and the results are frightening.

Privacy and security concerns around smart TVs are nothing new, but air fryers collecting our personal data is an alarming surprise.

Which? found that the three fryers it tested all wanted to "record audio on the user's phone, for no specified reason".

The Aigostar and Xiaomi fryers it tested "both sent people’s personal data to servers in China", it said.

That action was highlighted in a privacy notice, but that's likely something that many will miss.

Which? said the companion Xiaomi app for its air fryer hooked it up to "trackers from Facebook, Pangle (the ad network of TikTok for Business), and Chinese tech giant Tencent (depending on the location of the user)."

It also knew its owner’s precise location.

The Aigostar air fryer wanted to know its owner's "gender and date of birth", although this was at least optional.

The UK’s ICO (Information Commissioner’s Office) has requested greater transparency from companies about their use of data.

Meanwhile, Which? revealed that concerns over smart TVs are still as present as ever with Samsung being one of the worst offenders.

The device requested eight "risky" phone permissions, with risky being defined as having invasive access to your phone for actions like recording audio or seeing your exact location.

This put Samsung second only to the Huawei Ultimate smartwatch for privacy black marks, with the watch requesting nine of those "risky" permissions.

Huawei said that no data was used for marketing purposes and that there was a legitimate reason for all of the requests.

Which? found that the issue wasn’t just restricted to products asking for our personal data up-front but found that smart speakers like the Bose Home Portable speaker are "stuffed with trackers, including Facebook, Google, and digital marketing firm Urbanairship".

The problem with the issues highlighted by the consumer body is that many of the privacy invasions are mandatory as a part of the setup process or, like the advertising trackers, hidden from view.

However, you can restrict the data or functions given to companion apps on your iOS or Android phone.

On iOS, go to Settings > Privacy & Security, then scroll down to the permission you want to check (for example, microphone or camera).

On Android, you can do the same thing in Settings > Security and privacy > Permission manager.