Big Brother in Your Home? Amazon’s Smart Home Dominance and Data Collection | VIDEO

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[CNBC|VIDEO] Earlier this month, 20 privacy and labor groups sent a letter to the FTC asking it to block the acquisition. The letter cited concerns about privacy and Amazon’s growing dominance of the smart home market.

“Amazon takes its responsibility to customers and privacy incredibly seriously. And if we were to acquire iRobot or any other company, that would not change,” said Leila Rouhi, Amazon’s vice president of Trust and Privacy.

Amazon says 140,000 products are now compatible with Alexa, although “very few” of those are owned by the company. It acquired video doorbell maker Ring for $1 billion in 2018, just three months later it bought security camera maker Blink for $90 million.

Then in 2019, it paid $97 million for a mesh Wi-Fi system called Eero to help connect multiple smart devices in the home. [FULLSTORY]

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As the dominant player in the smart home market, Amazon has access to a vast amount of data on how people use their devices and interact with their homes. While Amazon’s exact use of this data is not publicly disclosed, we can make some informed guesses based on their past behavior and general trends in the tech industry.

Here are a few potential ways Amazon could be using the data it collects from smart home devices:

Improving product development: By analyzing how customers use their smart home devices, Amazon can gain valuable insights into what features are most popular and what areas could be improved. This can inform future product development and help Amazon create more effective and user-friendly devices.

Targeted advertising: Amazon is known for its sophisticated advertising capabilities, and the data it collects from smart home devices could be used to serve even more targeted ads. For example, if a customer uses their smart speaker to order a lot of takeout food, Amazon could show them ads for restaurants in their area.

Improving Alexa: Alexa, Amazon’s voice assistant, is a central component of many smart home devices. By analyzing how customers interact with Alexa, Amazon can improve the accuracy and effectiveness of the assistant, making it even more useful for customers.

Predictive analytics: With access to data on things like energy usage and home security, Amazon could use machine learning to make predictions about when customers are likely to need certain products or services. For example, if a customer’s smart thermostat is set to a low temperature, Amazon could predict that they are likely to need a new furnace filter soon and show them ads for filters or suggest a filter replacement service.

It’s worth noting that while Amazon has access to a lot of data on how people use their smart home devices, the company is also subject to strict data privacy laws and has faced criticism in the past for its data collection practices. Amazon says it takes data privacy seriously and only uses data for specific purposes, such as improving products and services. However, customers should always be aware of what data is being collected and how it is being used when they use smart home devices.

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