Consumers Willing to Sell Smart Home Personal Data for Money

According to Intel Corp.’s recent international IoT Smart Home Survey, 54% of survey respondents would be willing to share their personal data in exchange for money. Another 70% of those that answered the survey believe companies should give coupons or discounts in return for data about device usage.

The survey says that Millennials would be more comfortable taking money, discounts and coupons in exchange for sharing their behavioral data from their Smart Home devices compared to other generations. Of these, 62% would want money, 44% would want discounts and 29% would want coupons.

Intel’s survey, which polled 9,000 people from nine countries including Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Mexico, the U.K. and the U.S., found that 77% of respondents believe the Smart Home will be as ubiquitous as the smartphone by 2025, but most consumers (66%) are also concerned about data being hacked by criminals.

Furthermore, 89% of those surveyed say if they lived in a Smart Home, they would likely prefer to secure all of their smart devices through a single integrated security package.

“The survey shows that many individuals would be comfortable sharing their data for a price, but they are still understandably concerned about cyberthreats,” says Steve Grobman, CTO for Intel Security. “Security has to be foundational to the Internet of Things, and when done right, it can be an enabler of IoT.”

The most common smart devices survey responders thought would be in a Smart Home are smart lighting at 73%, smart kitchen appliances at 62%, and smart thermostats at 60%. Another 57% expect gas and electric bills to be lower while 55% expect heating and cooling bills to be reduced.