Your air fryer is getting smarter and hungrier for data

Last November ‘Which?’, a UK company that promotes informed consumer choice in the purchase of goods and services by testing products, found a worrying pattern: all three air fryers they examined requested permission to record audio on the user's phone without offering any explanation why.

One model required users to share their gender and date of birth just to set up an account. The companion app for Xiaomi’s air fryer went even further, embedding trackers from Facebook, Tencent, and Pangle (TikTok’s ad network for businesses).

Air fryers manafuctured by the China-based Xiaomi and Aigostar were caught transmitting personal data to servers in China. To be fair, this was mentioned in the privacy policies but it’s unlikely most users noticed.

All of this raises an obvious question: why on earth does an air fryer need to connect to the internet at all? Let alone request access to your mic and share data across ad networks.

Defenders of IoT convenience will say that’s the whole point of smart appliances — to send you “your meal is ready” alerts and let you start, stop, or adjust cooking settings from your phone. But that also raises two questions:

1. How often do you actually need to turn on an air fryer when you’re not in the kitchen?
2. Is getting a notification from the air fryer while you’re sitting on the sofa really worth the personal data you’re handing over in return?

Smart devices indeed often collect personal and even sensitive data (e.g., health metrics, household conversations), frequently without adequate transparency, security, or control from the user. We’ve previously addressed the privacy risks of voice assistants and the dangers of sharing personal data with them. But air fryers? Well, that’s an interesting new world we live in.

What happened next

'Which?' has consistently called for clear standards on how smart device makers should handle user data. And now the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has released new guidance urging manufacturers of Internet of Things (IoT) devices — like smart TVs, smart speakers, fertility trackers, and even the notorious air fryers — to respect users’ privacy rights and make more efforts in protecting it.

The guidance outlines what qualifies as sensitive data, how it can be collected lawfully, how long it can be retained, and other key responsibilities for manufacturers.

While still under discussion and subject to change, the message is clear: manufacturers have been put on notice.

Data privacy and IoT

Here are some general rules on how to stay smart about your smart devices:

1. Read before you connect
   — Check what permissions the device or its app requests — especially access to your microphone, camera, contacts, or location.
   — Review the privacy policy (yes, really) to understand what data is collected, why, and where it’s sent.

2. Disable what you don’t need
   — Turn off unused features like voice control, remote access, or data syncing.
   — Deny unnecessary permissions in the app settings.

3. Block unwanted connections
   — Use AdGuard DNS or AdGuard Home to monitor what your devices are doing and who they're talking to and block unwanted requests.
   — Check what third-party services (e.g. Alexa, Google, Facebook) your device is linked to — and disconnect anything you don’t actively use.

4. Keep firmware updated
   Install software and firmware updates to patch security vulnerabilities — but only from trusted sources.

5. Avoid ‘Always listening’ devices where possible
   Just be wary of appliances that have microphones or voice recognition features built in — especially if they can’t be turned off.

6. Use a separate Wi-Fi network for IoT devices
   Set up a guest network or a dedicated IoT network at home to isolate smart devices from your main devices (phones, laptops, etc.).

7. Reset before disposing or reselling
   Always factory reset smart devices before recycling, reselling, or giving them away to prevent your data from being passed on.

As IoT devices get smarter, so must we. Stay vigilant, because in a world where even your air fryer might be listening, privacy should never be an afterthought.