25 September 2026

^{What does your connected home know about you?}

 

You get home at 6.18pm. The doorbell detects movement. Later, you watch one episode of a series that turns into three. Your fitness tracker records when you finally go to bed.

Nothing remarkable happened. But look back over several weeks and those ordinary entries may begin to describe a routine: when someone leaves, when they return and how their evenings tend to unfold.

The records live in different places. To start finding them, pick one device and open its app.

 

Open your device’s activity history

 

A video doorbell is a good first choice. Find Event history or Activity and scroll through the timestamps. Can you spot a delivery, the morning rush or someone coming home?

Then look at what you can actually open. Is there footage as well as an event time? How far back does the history go? Ring, for example, lets subscribers view and download recorded doorbell and motion events. Without a subscription, earlier events may appear in the history even though their videos cannot be played or recovered.

A fitness tracker offers a different kind of diary. Its daily sleep score is easy to read, but the underlying record can be far more detailed. Apple says users can export all the health and fitness data held in its Health app as an XML file. You may prefer the graph, yet the export gives you a better sense of what sits behind it.

Then there is the television. Google says Google TV can use viewing activity, watchlists and linked streaming services to make recommendations. That suggestion to watch another crime drama did not come entirely out of nowhere.

 

Check the app as well as the appliance

 

When you investigate a smart device, the appliance is only half the subject. There is also the app you installed to control it.

In a 2024 investigation, UK consumer group Which? examined 12 smart products and their Android apps. Its tests found that the app for a Xiaomi air fryer connected to trackers associated with Facebook, TikTok’s advertising network and Tencent, with the connections varying by location. Which? also found that the apps for a Samsung TV, an Aigostar air fryer and a Huawei watch each requested more than six phone permissions it classified as potentially intrusive. Xiaomi said the app’s audio-recording permission was not applicable to its air fryer.

An air fryer is an unlikely character in a privacy investigation. It is also a useful reminder to inspect the app separately from the appliance. Those findings concern the products and Android apps Which? tested in 2024; they cannot tell you exactly what your own device does today.

To check, open your phone settings and find the companion app. Can it access your location, microphone, camera, photos or contacts? Is access allowed all the time or only while you use the app? You might find a permission you granted during setup and have never considered since.

Return to the app and check its connections. Does your tracker share data with an exercise service? Who has access to the doorbell account? A device bought by one person can record the comings and goings of an entire household.

 

What can smart-device data reveal?

 

A timestamp is a measurement, not an explanation. A doorbell can register movement at the front door without knowing who left. A watch can record a restless night without knowing what kept its wearer awake.

Several weeks of entries may nevertheless let you recognise a pattern. You do not need sophisticated software to notice that the same event appears at roughly the same time every weekday.

As you browse, keep three questions in mind: What is recorded? Who can see it? How long is it kept? They lead to decisions you can act on.

 

How to request your data

 

An activity screen may show only part of the information associated with your account. Look in the account settings for Download your data, Export or Privacy.

You can also ask a company for access to personal data it holds about you under the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). That request can help you establish what data the company processes, why and with whom it shares information.

The EU’s Data Act adds rights concerning data generated by connected products and related services. Dutch regulator ACM says users of covered products are entitled to clear information and access to data arising directly from their use. The rules apply to products placed on the market after 12 September 2025. Where possible, devices and related services must be designed to give users direct access from 12 September 2026. That does not guarantee an export button on an older gadget, but it gives purchasers of covered products a clearer basis for asking what data they can obtain.

 

Five things to do next

 

Start with the device whose history surprised you most. A few minutes in its settings may be more useful than trying to audit the whole house at once.

• Set a shorter retention period for recordings where the service allows it, and delete history you no longer need.
• Review app permissions and connections. Remove access you do not use, then check that the features you want still work.
• Check shared accounts. See who can view camera footage, activity histories or health information.
• Keep exports private. A downloaded archive may contain sensitive details; store it securely and delete spare copies.
• Ask before your next purchase. Where will the data be stored, can you obtain or delete it, and which features depend on an account or subscription?

A doorbell needs to remember who called while you were out. A fitness tracker needs past measurements to show a trend. But as you look around your kitchen, you might ask yourself: does your air fryer really need to know anything about you to make the chips?