New study says your air fryer might be listening to your conversations — should you be worried?

With time, there has been a shift in the currency of businesses. You may have heard of tech companies using customer data without their consent to sell it to advertising companies for use in a new marketing strategy called target advertising. If not, experts have conducted research to break it down into a simpler idea. Now, consumers pay twice when purchasing any product– first with money and then with their personal information. In a brilliant research study, consumer advice company Which? in the UK, found evidence of an unsettling trend among air fryers, as stated in their press release. 

The experts assessed the devices manufactured by three Chinese brands–Tencent, Xiaomi, and Aigostar, and revealed excessive smart device surveillance drawing from their demand to listen in on conversations of the owners. The research suspected the need for the customer’s precise location, and recording audio on their phones in an air fryer meant for cooking. They figured it was sent to a data cloud that would share the personal information with third parties for marketing and advertising purposes to churn out greater profit margins. 

The Xiaomi app in the user’s phone is linked to the air fryer, which further connects to trackers from Facebook and Pangle– the ad network of TikTok for Business, and Chinese tech giant Tencent. Meanwhile, the Aigostar air fryer asked for information about the consumer’s gender and date of birth during the sign-in process. However, it did not provide any context as to why they would require such information. In a straightforward privacy notice, it was flagged that both the Aigostar and Xiaomi brands transferred consumers’ personal data to Chinese servers. 

Later, Aigostar refuted the allegations to UNILAD, saying that their air fryers “do not have any recording capability” and the company does “not collect data from our devices.” They offered a clarification for the location permissions, stating that they are “solely for Wi-Fi setup, enabling device connectivity, and that users have complete control and can choose to decline this permission.” All of this information is also mentioned in their privacy policy, the brand claimed, adding that they are “streamlining” their data practices too. "We respect user control over their data. Aigostar allows users to delete their accounts at any time, and upon account deletion, all associated data is permanently removed from our servers,” Aigostar stated, attaching a link to their privacy policies. 

Several other smart devices join the ominous list with air fryers– the Huawei Ultimate smartwatch, which requested nine “risky” phone permissions, smart TV menus flooded with ads, smart speakers, and AI assistants like Amazon’s Echo, which uses trackers of their own that are not optional. In general consumer opinion, ‘smart’ could be a sign for personal data collection. Harry Rose, Which? magazine editor, spoke about the mischiefs of smart tech manufacturers and firms collaborating to collect data from their consumers for their own benefit, and with “reckless abandon.” 

He continued, “This is often done with little or no transparency.” Following the alarming findings, Which? has notified policymakers to devise stringent guidelines that outline the extent to which a smart product may collect data from consumers, with a clearly specified purpose. “ICO has confirmed a code is being introduced in Spring 2025 – this must be backed by effective enforcement, including against companies that operate abroad,” Rose added. Stephen Almond, executive director of regulatory risk at the ICO, told Sky News about the misuse of data for potential targeted advertising and gathering knowledge about current trends in the market.