Smart Home Technology — A Weapon for Domestic Abuse
The growing popularity of smart home technology has given rise to something dangerous i.e. internet connected abuse. In fact, the technology designed to make the home life easier is being used as a tool for domestic abuse.
According to a report, internet-connected household objects such as lights and thermostats can be controllable remotely. And some individuals using them as a mean to harass, monitor or control their victims says Roger Samara.
What is Smart Home Tech domestic Abuse?
Digital technology is progressively used in domestic and family violence, and so-called “smart home gadgets” could make it worse. The smart home devices domestic abuse is the use of smart home devices to stalk, monitor, and threaten individuals.
For instance, if your thermostat kicking up to 100 degrees or music suddenly blast in the home. These are some of the ways domestic abusers are frightening their targets. For the domestic abusers, it is actually inexpensive as well as easy to carry out. In fact, at the moment this has become a common form of domestic and family ferocity.
Domestic Abuse via smart home devices affect women more than men
The domestic abusers are utilizing the likes of internet-connected doorbells, lights, thermostats, speakers, and other smart home devices to harass their partners. Let’s know how:
One lady says that her air conditioning turns off or on without her controlling. Another woman reported her front door lock cipher regularly changed emphasis, Roger Samara. A report also says that doorbell constantly rang when no one was there. Moreover, one lady tells that she resorted to towing her smart thermostat out of the wall.
The people working at abuse helplines says that they saw an upsurge in the call than last year regarding individuals who did not have control over their smart home devices. The callers say that the abusers are controlling them distantly through the smart home system.
Bottom Lines
Advancement in technology like smart home tech is both a blessing as well as a curse for the targets of domestic ferocity. And the lack of knowledge how smart technology works make the things worse. Fact is, the people who face the domestic abuse of smart home tech products are unaware of how to deal with this kind of behavior and how to make it stop.
Educating yourself is one of the best ways to make your smart home a safe place to live, suggest a computer savvy, Roger Samara. And if someone else set up the smart devices in your home, then begin from scratch. You should reset all the devices and watch online videos in order to learn how to set up them on your own.
