Warren Seeds Unessay and Artist Statement

Smart Appliances: How Smart Are They?

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Link to my presentaion via YuJa: Warren Seeds Unessay

I chose the topic of smart appliance security because of the video I included in my presentation from the TV show “Silicon Valley”. As I watched the episode the clip is from I was immediately drawn to the topic of how safe these smart appliances are from an internet prrivacy standpoint. I conducted research and chose a few cases where common smart appliances were haced and sensitive inforrmation or scary survellance resulted. I decided to use a powerpoint to present my research as I am familiar with the Microsofft program and believe it is the most effective medium from which I can efficiently convey my argument. It was difficult to come up with a catchy new metaphor for smart appliances; however, I believe the catchyness of the current metaphor for them, “smart”, is exactly what gives people the false sense of security. A sales associate in an appliance depot is not going to mention the potential liability that comes with owning a smart appliance because their main goal is to sell you on the “bells and whistles” of a shiny new smart appliance so they can earn their commision on the sale. I believe it should be up to the companies that manufacture these appliances to educate the buyers on how to effectively avoid security breaches that may happen down the road. Ultimately, this was an incredibly interesting topic to research, and while the likelyhood of being hacked is relatively low, I will definately be cautious when making decisions as a homeowner down the road on which appliances I invest in.