Your air fryer might be spying on you, new report warns – and smart TVs are even hungrier for our data

• Some air fryers are harvesting your personal data, according to new report
• Smart TVs and smartwatches are also particularly thirsty for our data
• Manufacturers say there are legitimate reasons for the requests

The best air fryers might be genuinely life-changing pieces of kit, but some hide a snooping dark side that could see them invade your privacy in several alarming ways, according to a new report.

The UK-based consumer body Which? has released a report based on its privacy findings across a range of products, including air fryers, smartwatches, smart TVs and smart speakers. And it makes for worrying reading if you’re concerned about the creeping tentacles of tech companies.

While privacy and security concerns around smart TVs are nothing new, the appetite of some air fryers for our personal data is more of a surprise. Which? found that the three fryers it tested all wanted to “record audio on the user’s phone, for no specified reason”.

The Aigostar and Xiaomi fryers it tested “both sent people’s personal data to servers in China”, it said. That action was highlighted in a privacy notice, but that’s likely something that many will miss.

More specifically, Which? said the companion Xiaomi app for its air fryer hooked it up to “trackers from Facebook, Pangle (the ad network of TikTok for Business), and Chinese tech giant Tencent (depending on the location of the user).” That was alongside knowing its owner’s precise location.

For some reason, the Aigostar air fryer wanted to know its owner’s “gender and date of birth”, although this was at least optional. Still, the list of privacy infractions was long and concerning, even with the likes of the UK’s ICO (Information…