Sarah Stoodley, Liberal MHA for Mount Scio, is encouraging Newfoundlanders and Labradorians to educate themselves about the effects on privacy of smart devices in homes.

The MHA is issuing a caution about the cost smart home listening devices have on personal privacy.

Stoodley’s latest blog entry outlines some of the concerns raised by devices marketed to increase convenience to people and their families, but the ads don’t say how the companies involved store and use the personal information that’s collected.

Stoodley has a background in digital privacy and encourages people to ask three simple questions;

• How does a home assistant work?
• What happens to the recordings?
• What can I do to protect my privacy while still getting benefits from the device?

She also suggests that people regularly check the recordings the devices are making.

What you ask and what you say—including background conversations—are being recorded, that includes video on other platforms like Google Max and Facebook Portal.

She suggests going in regularly and deleting the recordings.

Sarah Stoodley spoke on the VOCM Morning Show. Listen below: