IoT Devices Used by Domestic Abusers in Worrying Trend, UK Parliamentary Report Finds

UK Parliament's Culture, Media, and Sport Committee published findings regarding the use of smart IoT devices by domestic abusers, showing that the practice is much more common than commonly believed.

Smart devices are a big part of people's digital footprint and have been used by domestic abusers to track their victims. It's not really a surprise, but the UK Parliamentary Committee looked into this phenomenon in more detail.

"Smart home security systems, smartphones and tablets, wearables and other smart home apps and devices like connected toys, baby monitors, cameras and smart speakers have been cited among the most common devices used to monitor, harass, coerce and control victims and survivors," the report found.

One of the most significant issues is that people rarely realize that their devices remain connected to accounts and other types of infrastructure. And domestic abusers often use this type of connectivity to find out locations, personal information, and more.

In fact, the research found that often "devices gifted to children are used to continue exerting control post-separation and can enable the perpetrator to access audio-visual information and to track the address of the new location the survivor has fled to."

The report also looked at how these devices could be more secure to protect the lives of the victims of domestic abusers. It recognized no solutions are available to fix these issues immediately, but the government can certainly do more to fix the problems identified.

"The Government can take more steps to tackle it by improving the criminal justice response, raising public awareness and convening industry to ensure manufacturers and distributors are mitigating risks through product design," the report concluded.