IoT Assistant

Carnegie Mellon University Labs

About this app

Discover and control what data is collected about you by Internet of Things (IoT) technologies. The IoT is everywhere. It consists of a myriad of devices and technologies that collect data about us - from cameras with facial recognition, to smart speakers that record what we say, or sensors that track our whereabouts. The IoT Assistant app helps you discover what data is being collected about you and how it is used. This includes who is collecting it, who it is shared with, and whether there are any privacy controls. New privacy regulations around the world require people who deploy IoT technologies to disclose their data collection and use practices and to also give us some control over these practices such as opting in or out of them. The IoT Assistant app provides users with a single interface through which they can discover IoT data collection around them and access available privacy controls. The IoT Assistant app also allows you to receive customized notifications about data collection and use practices you want to be notified about and control the frequency of these notifications.

An IoT portal associated with the app (https://www.iotprivacy.io) is available to also publicize the presence of IoT technologies collecting our data, whether you are the administrator controlling that technology or a volunteer contributor. Once you have defined an entry for an IoT technology through our portal, IoT assistant app users can discover this IoT technology and its data collection and use practices.

We care about your privacy. You can find our privacy policy here:
www.iotprivacy.io/privacy-policy

Ratings and reviews

It is a little buggy to register, i.e. after I clicked the link, I had to exit the app, answer all the questions again, and then login. So far it is only showing me a few traffic cameras nearby, but I'll take it to the mall and let it run a bit. Interesting idea, hope they get some useful data. Like everything that asks for an email address, I just created one at sneakemail and gave it to them.

The verification process is odd, but it does work. Usually a verification link just requires a click to verify. In this case it requires a click and then a login in the web portal. Installation was painless on a Google phone. Hasn't picked up anything yet, we'll see later today as I enter a more target rich environment.

Not what I thought. This app is a mixture of things. It's a crowd sourced app that shows you the location of devices that monitor and record you. It scans your use of the internet to see what sites are collecting about you. If that's what you're looking for, then great. If somebody hides a device in your home, work, vehicle etc., this app won't help you find any of those since those devices would not be reported to the app. I think a simpler explanation as to what this app does would help.

What's new

Minor bug fixes