Smart home technologies offer major market opportunities

Media servers, household appliances that think for themselves, and digital controls for heating and lighting increase living quality and comfort, improve security, and optimize heating and electricity consumption costs. Current market studies forecast smart home applications to have a global market volume of $113 billion in 2022. One barrier is customer uncertainty about data privacy.

People live differently today - in part because digitization is opening up many new possibilities for them. (Photo credit: iStock©piovesempre)
The situation sounds paradoxical: Smart Homes can prevent burglaries, report water damage or fire at an early stage and call for help in medical emergencies. Nevertheless, the enthusiasm for smart home solutions is currently still balanced with concerns about security and data protection. Skeptics point to the danger posed by hacker attacks and suspect smart devices of spying on smart home residents.

Will smart home devices now make break-ins easier or harder? So far, the German police are not aware of any case in which burglars have gained access to apartments or houses via smartphone. "Burglars prefer to look for houses without surveillance systems whose occupants are not at home," knows Jürgen Frickinger, who is working intensively on the subject at Bayern Innovativ.

Absence simulations with intelligent lighting concepts, roller shutters that go up and down and TV or stereo systems that switch on and off can simulate an occupied house. Highly visible cameras are an additional deterrent. Smart home components, however, can not only deter, but also make burglary attempts more difficult. "A smart home can defend itself by automatically lowering shutters, turning on lights, making noise and reporting the attempted break-in via telecommunications to the owner or directly to an operations center," says Frickinger.

Smart homes and cybercrime

Of course, cybercrime will not stop at smart homes. If doors that open electronically are installed or programmed incorrectly, or if owners are careless with security codes or passwords, they pose a risk of burglary. Owners of smart buildings are therefore urged to prevent cyberattacks with securely configured routers including encryption and protected communication protocols, regular security updates and responsible password handling. At the same time, manufacturers have a responsibility not to put insecure devices on the market. If vulnerabilities of networked devices become known, they are obliged to inform the consumer immediately and comprehensively about detected security vulnerabilities and to take and maintain effective emergency management measures.

Smart Home and DSGVO

With the developments around the Internet of Things, stricter guidelines have also always been demanded to protect personal data. The General Data Protection Regulation, introduced in May 2018, also applies to all devices that collect data with sensors and send it to manufacturers or service providers. The GDPR contains significantly stricter requirements than the previous Federal Data Protection Act and specifies drastic sanctions. The more smart home devices are used, the more providers and customers must focus on ensuring data protection and security. If this is achieved at a high level and reliably, the smart home can develop its full potential.

Further information

• SmartHome Initiative Germany: The SmartHome Initiative Germany, a cross-trade interdisciplinary federal association, enables its partners from industry, wholesale and specialized trade, crafts, utilities, housing and social economy, planners, architects, as well as research and development a continuous exchange of experience around the value chain "SmartHome".