Providing Market Intelligence for 40 Years

In The News

Network Security: Hacking Fears Could Scare Consumers Away from Smart-Home Devices

The rising occurrence of high-profile security hacks and privacy breaches, as well as being personally victimized, are contributing to ever-increasing consumer anxiety about smart home devices and platforms, according to new research.

Parks Associates’ latest quarterly survey of 10,000 U.S. broadband households found that almost half of consumers rank data security and privacy issues as their greatest concerns about connecting devices to the Internet, compared to other problems they may encounter, such as with tech support. Forty percent of the respondents say they have experienced a privacy or security problem with a connected device in the past year, most commonly viruses and malware.

“Our most recent data reveals that almost half of U.S. broadband households are ‘very concerned’ [rating 6-7 on a 7-point scale] about hackers getting control of connected devices and hackers getting access to data from the device,” says Parks Associates Research Analyst Brad Russell. “In tracing trending changes on these consumer attitudes from 2014 to 2016, we find that while the total share of consumers who are ‘concerned’ [rating 5-7] has not appreciably changed, the share of those that are ‘very concerned’ has grown by 6% to 7%. Similarly, the share of consumers who are ‘not concerned [rating 1-3] has shrunk by about half.”

From the article "Network Security: Hacking Fears Could Scare Consumers Away from Smart-Home Devices" by Rodney Bosch.

Previously In The News

Generative AI: Growth Surge Meets Trust Issues

Generative AI's infiltrated 58% of US internet households as of February 2026, according to Parks Associates. Parks' survey revealed only 16% of these households forked out cash for a paid AI appli...

Will a Smart Toilet Turn the Home Into a Diagnostic Center?

One of the hot products showcased at the recent Consumer Electronic Show (CES) was the smart toilet. In its analyst report on CES highlights, research firm Parks Associates wrote, “Smart toilets are e...

ADT’s $105 Million Bet on Ambient AI: Why the Security Giant Is Buying Technology That Can Sense People Through Walls

According to a 2024 Parks Associates survey, 42% of U.S. broadband households expressed concern about privacy when considering indoor security cameras, while only 18% had similar concerns about non-vi...

T-Mobile Brings Back Free MLB.TV Access for Customers

Sports rights are a proven retention tool: live games drive habitual viewing and reduce the urge to churn. Analysts at Deloitte and Parks Associates have repeatedly pointed to sports as a core lever f...