CES’s ‘Worst in Show’ products put your data at risk and cause waste, privacy advocates say

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LAS VEGAS (AP) – Much of the technology on display at CES includes gadgets designed to improve consumers’ lives – whether by using AI to create devices that help people work better, by creating friends to cure loneliness or by providing tools that help people. and mental and physical health.

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But not all new ideas are good, according to a panel of self-described dystopia experts who have judged some productions as “Worst in Show.” The award that no company wants to win calls for “the most unfixable, secretive, and unsustainable products on display.”

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“We’re seeing an increase in these things that have surveillance technology built into them, and they’re doing great things,” Liz Chamberlain, director of sustainability at e-commerce site iFixit told the Associated Press. “But it also means that now we have microphones and cameras in our washing machines, in our refrigerators and that’s an industry-wide problem.”

The fourth annual competition announced its winners on Thursday.

A new smart ring every few years?

Kyle Wiens, CEO of iFixit, awarded the Ultrahuman Rare Luxury Smart Ring the title of “most unfixable.”

The rings, in colors like dune and desert sand, cost $2,200. Wiens said the jewelry “looks sleek but hides a big flaw: its battery lasts only 500 charges.” Even worse, he said, is the fact that replacing the battery is impossible without completely destroying the device.

“Luxuries may pass, but two years of spending $2,200 is too low,” he said.

An AI-powered smart crib?

Bosch’s “Revol” bed uses sensors, cameras and AI that the company says can help monitor vital signs like how the baby is sleeping, its heart rate and breathing rates and more. The bed can also be shaken well if the child needs help to sleep and show the parents if a blanket or other object interferes with breathing.

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The company says how and where users can store their data. Bosch also says that the bed can be converted into a desk as the children grow.

But EFF Executive Director Cindy Cohn said the bed feeds on parents’ fears and “gathers a lot of information about children with a camera, a microphone, and even a radar sensor.”

“Parents expect safety and comfort — not surveillance and privacy risks — in their children’s homes,” he said in the report.

Too much waste?

While AI is everywhere at CES, Stacey Higginbotham, Policy at Consumer Reports, felt that SoundHound AI’s In-Car Commerce Ecosystem, powered by its Automotive AI, was pushing it too far.

The feature “increases energy use, encourages wasteful emissions use and distracts drivers—all while adding little value,” Higginbotham said. That made the interior car system as “slightly sustainable” on the list.

It is vulnerable to hacking

TP-Link’s Archer BE900 router won for “least secure” at CES. The company is the best-selling router brand in the US But its products are vulnerable to hacking, said Paul Roberts, founder of The Security Ledger.

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“According to Chinese law, TP-Link must report security flaws to the government before warning the public, which poses a serious threat to national security,” he said. “Yet TP-Link demonstrated its Archer BE900 router at CES without addressing these risks.”

Who asked for this?

In these awards there is also a category called “who asked for this?” At the top of that list was Samsung’s Bespoke AI Washing Machine, which Nathan Proctor, executive director of US PIRG, a consumer advocacy group, said was packed with “features no one needs,” including the ability to make phone calls.

“These additions make the device more expensive, fragile, and difficult to repair,” he said.

Very bad overall

Gay Gordon-Byrne, executive director of The Repair Association called LG’s “AI Home Inside 2.0 Refrigerator with ThinkQ” the worst product ever. The fridge adds “bright features,” Gordon-Byrne said, including a screen and Internet connection.

“But these come at a cost,” said Gordon-Byrne. “Short software support, high energy consumption, and expensive maintenance shorten the lifespan of a refrigerator, leaving consumers with an expensive, wasteful gadget.”

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