Is Big Brother alive and well and living in your fridge?

Back in 2009 we wrote a blog post called “Is Big Brother Alive and Well and Living in Your Fridge?”  That was long before people were talking about “the internet of things” but now that the topic is back in fashion we’d thought we’d re-publish it!

Enjoy!

What is the only appliance in your house you are unlikely to ever switch off? Your heating? Your TV? Your computer? Your broadband?

If you think about it, the most likely “always on” device in everyone’s home is their fridge.

So, if your fridge has a mobile wireless internet connection (probably paid for by the fridge manufacturer rather than you) it could become a key hub within your home for all sorts of applications from automated home controls to CCTV. This is quite apart from all the commonly discussed aspects about it being able to send shopping lists to your grocer (and then telling your robotic assistant when they’re ready to collect).

Have you bought a new fridge lately? Ever checked what electronics it has built-in that you might not know are there? In future that could become a decision-criteria on what fridge you buy.

Now the scary part. What if it had a built-in web cam?!