A growing share of U.S. consumers is uneasy about the data their connected home devices gather, according to the State of Consumer Data 2026 report from Reviews.org. The survey of 1,000 Americans found that 30% felt more concerned about data collection than a year earlier, while 55% reported retaining about the same level of concern.
Smart TVs were the most widely owned connected device, with 77% of respondents saying they had one. Smart speakers followed at 46%, and doorbell cameras at 40%. Fewer people reported owning smart thermostats, robot vacuums, and AI chatbot or assistant subscriptions.
Respondents were divided on how much say they had over their information. Roughly 53% said they had meaningful control over the data their devices collected, while 47% said they did not. The report suggested the split pointed to privacy concerns that extended beyond toggling a few settings.
Many consumers said they had already acted on those concerns. The most common step was adjusting privacy settings on a connected device, reported by 55% of respondents, followed by deleting or limiting an AI assistant’s conversation history, reported by 50%. About 43% said they had read a full privacy policy before using a device, and 30% had switched brands after a privacy concern or data breach.
The survey also gauged attitudes toward AI assistants, with consumers expressing more wariness about the tools than the companies behind them. Concern scores were consistently shared by more than half of respondents for the most widely used assistants:
- Amazon Alexa: 65%
- Google Gemini: 65%
- ChatGPT: 64%
- Apple Siri: 63%
Trust in individual companies remained modest. Google earned the highest score at 3.25 on a five-point scale, followed by Amazon and Samsung. The U.S. government, included as a benchmark, ranked lowest at 2.26.
Consumers also signaled a willingness to respond when a device crossed a line. About 78% said they would disconnect a device that collected more data than expected, and 74% said they would move to a competing brand with stronger privacy practices. Respondents showed the strongest support for policy changes, with 83% backing legislation requiring manufacturers to disclose, in plain language, what data their devices collect.