Overview of Personal Privacy Risks and Consequences in Smart Homes

Abstract

The Internet of Things (IoT) has transformed the world into an interesting place. Smart homes, multiplied by IoT, revolutionized human comfort and living. On the one hand, smart homes brought immense ease to lives, but on the other hand, this advancement brought many privacy concerns. Smart homes contain critical security vulnerabilities that are most often overlooked, like weak authentication, default login credential usage, lack of regular security updates, etc. Since smart appliances collect and use personal data, the security of smart homes should be the first and foremost priority. In this work, we collected a sample of real-world incidents and presented a new dataset. A case study approach was utilized to discuss common security concerns in smart home environments and the potential consequences of personal data privacy breaches. This paper focuses on financial loss, personal profiling, surveillance, targeted social engineering, and identity theft & fraud risks that can result after a personal data privacy breach. © 2025 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.