Half of Consumers Willing to Trade Smart Home Data for Utility Discounts, Says Report

Half of U.S. broadband homes would be willing to share data and device control for electricity discounts, said a Thursday Parks Associates blog post. Across smart appliance categories, 51 percent of thermostat owners, 50 percent of water heater owners and 48 percent of dryer owners said they’d be will to trade data and control for discounts, said Parks. The consumer owns the data from smart products, and smart home product providers are the “stewards of the data,” said analyst Tom Kerber. “It is essential for all IoT players to understand consumers' willingness to exchange data for services, their views on privacy and security, and the conditions under which they will grant access to their data,” Kerber said. When presented with nonfinancial incentives, 40-50 percent of consumers are willing to share data, “under some circumstances,” related to warranties, product improvements, product education and remote technical support, said analyst Brad Russell.