Most people have seen the commercials or news reports, read magazines, seen newspaper reports and have looked at YouTube videos on digital, that have speakers and cameras, can be hacked with information gathered on you and your family. Some people don’t believe it can happen to them or they disbelieve it as a ploy to get them to buy something different or more expensive. Then there are those that believe ‘Big Brother’ want to use them and they don’t want the police in their business.

Truth be told, digital snooping is everywhere, and it cannot be avoided. People are using digital everything every day. Every time a credit or debit card is used, information about the user is gathered. Normally it is where the card is used, time, amount of purchase, what was purchased, account number, address and account balance. Most of the time the information is not used but, when it is gathered, it can be sold for a profit and used lawfully or unlawfully. You’ll never know until you see a news report about it.

Then there are the home items that can be hacked and can make your life a living hell. The items I will list is only partial and will have to be connected to a wi-fi system. The wi-fi system let you control the item(s) with your computer, your phone, etc. The items could be your door bell, alarm system (cameras, motion detectors, speaker for the cameras/motion detectors/doorbell), the entire house (if you automatically turn your lights on and off, lock and unlock your doors, turn your oven on and off, etc.).

You may have seen the news report about a hacker that was watching a family’s kids’ room and was talking to the kids through the speaker on the camera in the room. I also know about baby monitors being hacked and the entire house is heard because baby monitors are very sensitive. Baby monitors, old style, are run on radio waves and, newer style, run on wi-fi. Beware of both because it can monitor your entire house.

Don’t forget your automobile. All newer vehicles have computers and some pair it with cameras, depending on whether you purchased the bare minimum or the top of the line. Vehicles can tell you everything that is going on with the vehicle. It can see things around the outside the vehicle. It can tell you about the interior of the vehicle. If you have a camera that watches the kids in the backseat, a hacker can also. It has been known for a hacker to take control of the vehicle. The computer tells where you have been, where you are, your fuel, road condition, traffic, weather, etc. If your computer knows, a hacker knows also.

I am telling you all of this just to say to be careful what you do with these electronic items. Where you place them, what you say around them may, one day, come back to haunt you. You will never know who or what is monitoring you nor will you know what is to be done with the information. It will only get worse, not better, because everything is electrical and have monitoring capabilities. Some are small, some are large, some are hidden, and some are in plain sight. Rest assured, they are there, and I have only mentioned very few gadgets. There are many more out there.