Wikimedia Commons / Gage Skidmore
Under the bipartisan Informing Consumers about Smart Devices Act, manufacturers of internet-connected devices would be required to disclose whether the appliances have microphones or cameras.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on Tuesday delivered a speech on the Senate floor encouraging his colleagues to support a bill that would require companies to inform the public if the household appliances they manufacture are prying into buyers' private lives.
“I don’t think the American people want their air fryer spying on them,” Cruz said. “And at a minimum, they have a right to know if their air fryer is spying on them.”
A ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee, Cruz was seeking unanimous consent to pass his Informing Consumers about Smart Devices Act. If passed, the bill would require manufacturers of Internet-connected devices to disclose to consumers whether the products have microphones or cameras.
“But with any technological advancement, there can be trade-offs. And for smart devices, one of the potential trade-offs is our privacy,” Cruz said during his speech. “In Texas, we become very aware of that cost. The past few years, smart thermostats have allowed electric companies to control the temperature in your own home from afar in the name of conserving energy. Furthermore, a lot of Americans don’t realize or expect that the growing number of smart household devices and appliances have cameras on them, and microphones that can surreptitiously record families and transmit data.”
Although the bill has won support from Democrats including Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell, Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul rejected Cruz’s request for unanimous consent.
Air fryers are just the latest electronic device that has come under Cruz's recent scrutiny.
During an episode of his podcast last month, the senator argued that Democrats are trying to remove AM radios in cars to silence right-wing talk shows.
Subscribe to SA Current newsletters.
Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter| Or sign up for our RSS Feed
