British Consumer Group Raises Allegations That Popular Chinese Air Fryer Listens to Conversations and Collects Data

English Consumer Group Investigates Privacy Protection of Smart Devices
"Xiaomi and Aigostar Models Share Data with TikTok"
Companies Deny Claims... "No Personal Data Transferred"

Suspicions have arisen that popular Chinese-made air fryer models listen to users' conversations and collect data. On the 5th (local time), the UK’s The Sun reported, "An investigation found that two air fryer models from Xiaomi and Aigostar share data with platforms like TikTok through connected apps." The consumer organization Which claimed that these models were caught listening to users' conversations and transmitting data to servers in China.

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In this investigation, Which evaluated the air fryers across six categories: consent, transparency, data security, data minimization, trackers, and data deletion, and based on this, assigned each product a privacy score. Which stated, "The investigation revealed ways in which smart technology manufacturers recklessly collect data from consumers, with most cases lacking transparency."

According to The Sun, consumers easily click to agree to the item stating 'collected data is shared with third parties for marketing purposes,' but most do not know what data this concerns. This highlights serious surveillance issues among smart devices. The investigation found that the app linked to the Xiaomi air fryer shares data with Facebook, TikTok, Tencent, and others, while requesting permission to listen to users' conversations. Both products are popular items sold on Amazon, with the Aigostar product currently out of stock.

However, regarding these controversies, Xiaomi stated, "We do not share personal information with third parties. The 'Xiaomi Home' app does not have a feature that records user audio on the air fryer." They added, "The claim in the investigation that users' personal information was transmitted to servers in China stems from a misunderstanding, and some parts are inaccurate and misleading."

Additionally, Aigostar said, "Customer data security and privacy are important issues, and Aigostar is committed to maintaining the highest standards of privacy and data protection."