The Future of Microphones in Connected Devices Infographic

The Microphones & the Internet of Things: Understanding Uses of Audio Sensors in Connected Devices infographic illustrates microphones in home devices — and increasingly, in city sensors and other out-of-home systems — home devices integrate microphones, which provide a voice user interface powered by cloud-based speech recognition which can generate privacy concerns.

As policymakers consider the existing legal protections and future direction for the Internet of Things, it’s important to first understand the wide range of ways that these devices can operate. In this Infographic, we propose that regulators and advocates thinking about microphone-enabled devices should be asking three questions: (1) how the device is activated; (2) what kind of data is transmitted; and, on the basis of those two questions, (3) what are the legal protections that may already be in place (or not yet in place).