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these are the risks for you

Making your home smart doesn’t have to be expensive, but there are certain risks associated with a cheap smart home. We list them for you.

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Cheap smart home risks

As soon as you orientate yourself on products for your smart home, you quickly notice the difference in price. You have to invest heavily for devices from well-known brands, while you are often ready for a few tens at the Action or Kruidvat. Then such a cheap smart home is very attractive.

For many other products on the market, you mainly pay more for a brand or functions that you do not use, but that does not always apply to the smart home. You also pay for your safety.

When we talk about the smart home, we often talk about devices with which we bring a lot of cameras and microphones into the house. Don’t just think of smart cameras, but also smart doorbells and microphones in smart speakers or smart screens. With cameras and microphones in the house, you should always ask yourself: who is watching or listening?

Action and Tuya

Unfortunately, too often in the past it has turned out that the cheapest cameras are not properly secured. That partly depends on the users. Many people don’t change their camera’s password so anyone can break in. In addition, the security of the cameras themselves often leaves much to be desired.

Take Action’s smart cameras, for example. These cameras are actually from the Chinese company Tuya. A lot of cheap smart home products come from Tuya. That’s because this company makes it extremely easy to sell their products under your own name. You can do that via the Tuya website. Then you even get your own app. In practice, this is simply the Tuya app with your own logo on top, for example a HEMA logo or a Kruidvat logo.

The question is what this Chinese player does with your data. The company is very vague about this in the privacy conditions. In addition, it has been found that these Tuya devices are relatively easy to hack.

Updates and your network

What also does not help is that these cheap smart home products are often poorly updated. New vulnerabilities and threats are constantly being discovered, with the big brands on top. Companies like Google regularly send out updates for their smart home devices, which you probably don’t even notice. They are installed in the background. That is not always the case with the cheap devices.

The problem isn’t just with cameras and microphones, either. Poorly secured smart home products are an open door to get into the rest of your home network. In addition, there are even examples of cheap smart plugs that can cause a fire in the house.

You don’t have to spend a fortune to make your home a lot smarter, but opting for the cheapest products isn’t the smartest route. Keep an eye out for the tips below:

  • Beware of unknown brands. Although that does not apply to the Action or HEMA, because they put their own brand on Chinese products, you should completely avoid completely unknown brands that do not even have their own website.
  • Change the password. Whatever camera or other product you ultimately choose: make sure to change the default password.
  • Install updates: Installing updates is always important, including in your smart home.

More about the cheap smart home

Looking for more information on this topic? We explain why a smart plug from the Action may not be the best choice. And we’ll tell you more about the Action’s smart doorbell.

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