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7 in 10 Brits don’t trust AI voice assistants or smart speakers with their data

Following the launch of Apple’s HomePod, a new poll from data driven intelligence agency Future Thinking has revealed that seven out of ten (69%) Brits don’t trust big companies with the data collected by AI voice assistants or smart speakers.

Apple’s first smart speaker, the HomePod, launched in the UK this month. The speaker adds to a long list of smart home devices from the likes of Amazon and Google that collect data from the user to provide a service.

The findings come from Future Thinking’s recent poll which surveyed over 4,700 respondents on the companies they trusted with the data collected by AI voice assistants and smart speakers. The multiple choice poll results indicated that only one in ten people trusted Apple (12%), Google (11%), Amazon (12%) and Samsung (9%) with their data.

Shaun Austin, senior director at Future Thinking, commented: “People just don’t trust big companies with their data, and it’s proving to be a big mountain to climb for the likes of Apple, Amazon and Google who need to record and store voice and user data to make their smart speakers intuitive and useful.

The problem with more and more smart devices flooding our homes is that consumers don’t know what data these companies collect and to what extent. Rumours persist that these companies are listening in on our conversations without our consent, and, while untrue, these companies have a big job on their hands to earn our trust.

With new data rules coming into play via GDPR in May this year we’ll see the power of data shift into the hands of the consumer. This means companies need to demonstrate they can be trusted, otherwise users will reclaim their data and the category could fail before it’s even started.“

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Alex Sampson .