Your devices feed AI assistants and harvest personal data even if they’re asleep. Here's how to know what you're sharing.
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AI tools that provide information to you also gather lots of information from you and may provide it to third parties.

Like it or not, artificial intelligence has become part of daily life. Many devices — including electric razors and toothbrushes — have become AI-powered," using machine learning algorithms to track how a person uses the device, how the device is working in real time, and provide feedback. From asking questions to an AI assistant like ChatGPT or Microsoft Copilot to monitoring a daily fitness routine with a smartwatch, many people use an AI system or tool every day.

While AI tools and technologies can make life easier, they also raise important questions about data privacy. These systems often collect large amounts of data, sometimes without people even realizing their data is being collected. The information can then be used to identify personal habits and preferences, and even predict future behaviors by drawing inferences from the aggregated data.

An assistant professor of cybersecurity at West Virginia University, studies how emerging technologies and different types of AI systems manage personal data and how we can build more secure and privacy-preserving systems for the future.

    • Havatra@lemmy.zip
      3·
      18 hours ago

      Depends on the level of technology you’re willing to go to:

      Smart phones today you’re probably all out of luck, whether it’s Google’s Android, Huawei’s HarmonyOS, or Apple’s iOS. Same with any desktop PC.
      Dumb phones without internet connectivity, like the Mudita Pure, can get you pretty far, but as you’re making calls and sending texts through your telecall provider, your provider might use that data for training purposes still.

      For other technological devices, like fitness trackers, TVs, cars, fridges, or any IoT device really, that somehow either connects to internet or syncs to a device with such capability (your phone) in order to phone home, you’re likely out of luck.
      Dumb devices, like mechanical timepieces, monitors, and “normal refridgerators” can get you pretty far, but remember that your purchases of these things, along with all the metadata of those purchases, might also be tracked and trained on.