Smart home devices: High potential for secure products in Germany

Interest in buying smart home devices has been rather low in Germany so far. According to a recent survey by the German TÜV Association, an important reason for the reluctance is a lack of confidence in the safety of such devices.

For four out of five respondents (80 percent) the protection of their devices against hacker attacks was unclear, seven out of ten (68 percent) worry about misuse of their personal data. Only one in three (34 percent) trust the manufacturers’ security functions.

Also, the issue of IT security is an important criterion when buying networked home technology. For seven out of ten respondents, it is important that the IT security of their products has been independently checked, either by specialist magazines, like the Stiftung Warentest, or by other testing organizations. Two out of three would even be willing to pay more for more security.

Press release and survey (in German) at vdtuev.de

Photo by Sebastian Scholz (Nuki), Unsplash.