Providing market intelligence for more than 35 years

In The News

Buying a home? Sellers may use cameras, microphones to spy on house hunters

About 9.4 million U.S. homes, or 7.4% of the total, are equipped with Wi-Fi enabled cameras and mics, says Brad Russell, research director for Parks Associates, a consumer technology research firm. As many as 11 million or so have similar but more limited set-ups trained on the doorstep or outside the house, or embedded in a light fixture, Russell says. That means up to 13% of homes have at least one Wi-Fi camera and mic. The cameras often are visible but can be hidden in stuffed animals, like a “nanny cam,” or concealed in bookshelves. This Web-enabled do-it-yourself home surveillance market didn’t even exist five years ago, Russell says.

From the article "Buying a home? Sellers may use cameras, microphones to spy on house hunters" by Paul Davidson.

Previously In The News

Netflix saw subscribers drop post-lockdown. But Disney+ might not face the same fate

Like all streaming services, Disney+ saw strong growth during the pandemic but competitor Netflix reported losing subscribers last quarter. But Disney+ is cheaper than Netflix – an increasingly import...

Comcast is totally okay with you not having an Xfinity set-top box

“Pay-TV providers want to retain subscribers, so they want to make sure that you stay inside their ecosystem,” says Brett Sappington, a media analyst at Parks Associates. “If you don’t have a reason t...

Password sharing denies streaming services $9 billion in fees

According to analysis by research firm Parks Associates, password piracy and sharing cost streaming providers like Netflix, Hulu, and Disney Plus $9.1 billion in 2019 alone. Why aren’t these companies...

Could streaming giants start to clamp down on password sharing?

The major concern for cyber security companies like Synamedia is how password sharing can turn into true content piracy ? stealing streaming shows and movies and reselling them for profit. If you k...