How Should Consumer Fear Affect Your Selection Process

As technology gets smarter, it offers the opportunity for home owners to save time and customize more aspects of their home. However, these benefits sometimes don't outweigh the fear that the resident may have of security issues.

Where are they comfortable and how is that affecting your product specification process?

Lots of different Internet of Things devices are catching on with consumers, from smart watches to connected cars.

But there's one set of such gadgets that many consumers are resisting — smart home devices.

Consumers are uneasy about being watched, listened to, or tracked by devices they place in their homes, consulting firm Deloitte found in a new survey it released Wednesday. Thanks to such discomfort, consumer interest in connected home home technology lags behind their interest in other types of IoT devices, Deloitte found.

"Consumers are more open to, and interested in, the connected world," the firm said in its report. Noting the concerns about smart home devices, it added: "But not all IoT is created equal."

Nearly 40% of those who participated in the survey said they were concerned about connected-home devices tracking their usage. More than 40% said they were worried that such gadgets would expose too much about their daily lives.