My washing machine talks to my thermostat. Amazon Alexa talks to my lights and motion sensors talk to my oven. But as these conversations proliferate in my home (and in the cloud), who’s listening in? Big companies? Hackers? More and more consumers are starting to ask these tough questions, demanding that companies provide answers. Or worse— they’re put off by the whole idea…

In October 2016, the technology world was jolted awake when millions of poorly secured consumer devices were compromised and subsequently used in a malicious attack on popular web services like Soundcloud and Twitter. This incident, which came to be known as the Mirai botnet attack, utilized a form of malware to take control of devices and effectively turn them into an army…