Beyond Connected [Ep. 27] Your TV, doorbell, and car are spying on you – Here’s what they know

Your smart TV, Ring, Alexa, and even your car may be tracking you. Learn exactly how to turn off hidden privacy settings in this episode.

Science/Technology Apr 15, 2026 0 3 Add to Reading List

Welcome back to Beyond Connected! Thanks for listening in, and if you like what you hear, come back every Wednesday for a new episode.

You didn’t hand over your life to big tech – but your smart devices did it for you. In this episode, Kurt breaks down the five most alarming privacy clauses buried inside the smart home gadgets most of us already own: your TV, your Ring doorbell, your Amazon Echo, and yes, even your car. The revelations are infuriating – and most of it was turned on by default the moment you plugged in. The good news? Kurt walks you through exactly how to shut every single one of these down, step by step, without getting rid of any of your devices.

What you will learn in this episode:

How your smart TV is watching what you watch and selling it to advertisers in real time
Why your Ring doorbell has built a detailed map of your daily routine — including when you leave for work
What it means that real Amazon employees can listen to recordings from inside your home
How one automaker was logging your vehicle speed 25 times per second — and selling it to your insurance company
Why your Amazon Echo has been saving every conversation you’ve had since the day you bought it
How to turn off smart TV tracking on Roku and Samsung in under two minutes
The exact steps to lock down your Ring app, delete your Alexa history, and opt out of car data sharing
Why these devices are priced so low — and what you’re actually paying with

Want to know the exact steps to lock all of this down across your devices? Get the full guide here.