Urgent warning air fryers could be listening in on families and spying on them

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Startling new research shows that some air fryers are spying on unsuspecting users.

Experts from Which? - who analysed multiple appliances sold in the UK - have found several demanded permissions to listen in on users' conversations. The kitchen gadgets are incredibly popular and use hot air rather than hot oil to cook foods, offering a quick and healthy alternative to deep-fat fryers.

As reported by the Mirror, once again they top the early Christmas wish lists for many. The research rated air fryers across six categories – consent, transparency, data security, data minimisation, trackers, and data deletion. Based on these ratings, the researchers gave each product an overall privacy score.

And Harry Rose, Which? magazine editor, said: "Our research shows how smart tech manufacturers and the firms they work with are currently able to collect data from consumers, seemingly with reckless abandon, and this is often done with little or no transparency."

The analysis revealed that all three products – Aigostar, Xiaomi Mi Smart, and Cosori CAF-LI401S – knew their customers' precise location. In addition, they wanted permission to record audio on the user's phone.

The Xiaomi app linked to its air fryer connected to trackers from Facebook, Pangle (the ad network of TikTok for Business), and Chinese tech giant Tencent (depending on the location of the user), while the Aigostar air fryer wanted to know the user's gender and date of birth when setting up an account.

Both the Aigostar and Xiaomi air fryers, meanwhile, sent personal data to servers in China - although this was flagged in the privacy notice. In response, a Xiaomi spokesperson told Mail Online : "The permission to record audio on Xiaomi Home app is not applicable to Xiaomi Smart Air Fryer which does not operate directly through voice commands and video chat."

A Cosori spokesperson added: "We prioritise privacy, and subject to our internal compliance requirements, the smart products must comply with GDPR." The Mirror has reached out to Aigostar for comment.

Last year, Rebecca Sim’s one-year-old Tower gadget burst into flames. The retired school teacher, of Greater Manchester, said: “I was really shocked. I noticed the flickering and a plastic smell, so I knocked the switch off with a wooden spoon, unplugged it and smothered it with a damp tea towel."

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