Quickly increase your privacy by turning off Wi-Fi on these 7 devices

Smart home appliances and other wireless devices have made homes much more comfortable and enjoyable. However, these conveniences often come at the cost of poor privacy. If you’re worried about your privacy, here’s a breakdown of seven devices you can disconnect from Wi-Fi to better protect your personal space.

1 Smart speakers

Smart speakers are actively listening, even when they shouldn’t be. If you have an Amazon Echo or Google Nest, you’re probably familiar with wake-up words like “Alexa” or “Hey Google.” These speakers are actively listening to those around them for these wake-up words and may be spying on you in the process. You don’t have to completely disable Wi-Fi on these devices, but you can improve privacy by turning off the connection when you don’t need it. In addition, you can also do the following:

• Turn off the microphone: Smart speakers will have the option to turn off the microphone. Turn off the microphone when you leave the house or receive guests. Limits the device’s ability to listen.
• Disable conversation continuation: Some voice assistants have settings to continue listening after waking up. Disabling this feature will ensure that they only listen once per command.
• Delete voice recordings regularly: Most voice assistants store your requests. Periodically delete these recordings from your device app or account settings.

Smart speakers are great, but don’t let them affect your privacy.

2 Smart kitchen appliances

It may seem strange, but many smart kitchen appliances often support Wi-Fi. Your refrigerator can track expiration dates or suggest recipes. Your oven may have an app to preheat while you’re still at the grocery store. Many of these conveniences are often gadgets that don’t really add much to the functionality of the kitchen appliance.

“”>

Try disabling Wi-Fi on these devices for a week and see which devices really need an internet connection. After consideration, you can completely or partially disable Wi-Fi on devices that you do not find useful with Wi-Fi connectivity.

3 Babysitters

Baby monitors have come a long way, offering high definition video, motion tracking and even sleep information. People use them with Wi-Fi for easy setup. But if you care about your child’s privacy, you might want to take the time to install a baby monitor with cables and turn off Wi-Fi completely. If you really need a wireless connection, there are also non-Wi-Fi baby monitors that operate on dedicated radio frequencies to transmit audio and video signals without an internet connection.

4 Security cameras

Security cameras can be a great way to monitor your property, but if they are online all the time, they can be constantly recording and sending data. This can leave you vulnerable to hackers or unauthorized access, especially if your password is not strong. Like baby monitors, most security cameras offer wired options.

Again, if you want better privacy and security, you’d be better off disabling Wi-Fi on these cameras and using a wired connection instead. If your camera uses an SD card for local storage and you don’t need live monitoring, you can even skip the cables and simply transfer data directly from the SD card to your computer when events occur that require monitoring.

5 Printers

If you print documents daily or need to send jobs frequently from multiple devices, a Wi-Fi connection may be required on the printer. However, if you only print occasionally and use one computer to send a print job, you should completely disable Wi-Fi on the printer and use a wired connection. Wi-Fi connected printers are known to be easy targets for hackers.

6 Digital photo frames

“”>

Digital photo frames have moved beyond simple presentations. Many now offer cloud storage that allows you to add photos directly from your phone. But that also means these frames are often connected to Wi-Fi, which stores your photos online. If you don’t change photos often, you should only turn on Wi-Fi on these devices when you change photos.

7 Robotic vacuum cleaners

Robotic vacuum cleaners can map the layout of your home to clean efficiently – and they can also pose a huge privacy risk. Companies often use the data collected in their robot vacuum cleaners to further improve the products, but they may also share it with third-party partners. It can also lead to data leaks and allow people to see your data. In addition, skilled hackers with access to your Wi-Fi can also steal this data and get an idea of ​​the layout of your house.

If you want to improve privacy, you may want to turn off Wi-Fi on these vacuums and use a remote control instead. You’ll probably lose some smart features, but your floors will be clean—no data sharing and no potential leaks.

These steps may seem small, but they have a big impact on your digital privacy. You don’t have to completely disable Wi-Fi on your smart devices, but you should at least take control and disconnect where it counts!