Listening to your network…

We are passively listening for device broadcasts on your local network. This takes about 10 seconds. Nothing leaves your home.

Starting scan…
What is happening right now
Listening for mDNS broadcasts — the same protocol your phone uses to find “John’s Apple TV” automatically
Sending an SSDP discovery message — a standard network announcement request used by smart TVs, Roku, and Amazon devices
Looking up manufacturer from each device’s MAC address — the first three bytes uniquely identify the manufacturer
Matching discovered devices against a database of 20+ known IoT device types with documented data practices

Your connected home

Where to start
Devices found on your network ⓘ
Click any device to see what it collects, where it goes, and how to limit it.
How your devices became data streams ⓘ
Understanding the system that turns your home into an advertising asset.
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The wake word myth ⓘ
Alexa and Google Home process audio locally to detect the wake word. Once triggered, all subsequent audio goes to Amazon or Google servers, is processed, logged, and retained. Amazon confirmed in Senate testimony that this data informs ad targeting. The device is not “off” between wake words — it is listening at a lower processing level continuously.
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Your TV is watching you back ⓘ
ACR (Automatic Content Recognition) technology in smart TVs captures a fingerprint of everything displayed on screen — including content from external devices plugged into HDMI ports. Samsung, LG, Vizio, and Roku all use ACR. This data is sold to advertisers and audience measurement firms. Opting out is buried in settings menus most users never see.
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Your doorbell knows who visits ⓘ
Ring (Amazon) has shared footage with law enforcement thousands of times, initially without requiring a warrant. After Congressional scrutiny in 2022, Ring updated its policy to require warrants or user consent. However, footage shared to the Neighbours app is visible to the broader community and to Ring’s platform. Visitor patterns reveal social activity, delivery habits, and household routine.
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Your thermostat tracks your schedule ⓘ
Nest and Ecobee learn your schedule by tracking when you arrive home, leave, and sleep. This occupancy data is commercially valuable to insurers (empty homes claim less), retailers (targeted offers timed to your routine), and advertisers (lifestyle segment classification). Ecobee has sold anonymised version of this data to utility companies and researchers.
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Your router sees everything ⓘ
Every DNS query from every device on your network goes through your router. If your router is an Eero (owned by Amazon), those queries contribute to Amazon’s picture of your household. Even without reading the content of traffic, DNS query patterns reveal which services you use, when you use them, and what kinds of content you consume — across all devices, including those without screens.
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How the economics work ⓘ
Smart devices are sold below cost or at thin margins because the data they generate is worth more than the hardware. Roku’s gross profit is 90% advertising. Amazon sells Echo at near-cost because Alexa data improves targeting across its entire retail and advertising business. The device is not the product. The product is you — more specifically, a detailed model of your behaviour, routine, and spending patterns.

See how this feeds your commercial data profile →