Appliances, Devices Too Smart for Our Own Good

People of calories who have trouble staying on their diets are surrounded by potential rats who will blow the whistle if they so much as eat an entire box of peanut butter Easter eggs!

Coworkers, friends, cashiers, your doctor, relatives, janitors who spot the wrappers and even your children are ready to drop a dime and turn informant all "for your own good."

Slightly bruising your diet is a minefield for those of us who don’t consider diets a commitment that ranks up there with marriage.

Fortunately, there is now one informer that Congress intends to remove from the list of finks.

Thanks to the Informing Consumers About Smart Devices Act your smart refrigerator will not be able to record those embarrassing moments when your willpower suffers a rolling blackout.

The Washington Examiner has the encouraging details, "Members of the House voted 406-12 to pass the Informing Consumers about Smart Devices Act, which would give the Federal Trade Commission the power to force the designers of internet-connected devices to disclose whether recording hardware is installed into smart devices.

"The devices affected include smart appliances such as televisions and refrigerators but not mobile phones, laptops, or other devices in which the owner reasonably expects to see recording devices."

We can only assume the 12 Members of Congress who voted against this worthy bill are anorexics.

Even one Big Tech trade association approved of the bill, which came as a surprise to us.

Matt Schruers issued a statement, "Consumers have the right to know the capabilities of their digital devices.

"We commend Congress for the bipartisan work to ensure consumers are better informed about their smart devices in this area where consumer trust is crucial."

In this case trust should be very conditional.

Those readers who think we are being alarmist regarding the friendly kitchen food safe are evidently not watchers of the HBO series "Silicon Valley."

There, in season four, the masterminds behind the company Pied Piper hijacked the memory modules in over 30,000 smart refrigerators to store their company’s database free of charge.

At least it was free for them.

We don’t know what it did to the smart refrigerator owner’s electric bill or programmed crisper preferences.

Back in the real world it’s easy to question the allegiance of the smart refrigerator.

Is the unit loyal to the family that pays its electric bill?

Or, has it decided to cozy up to the power company and the next time a call goes out for load shedding will it turn the freezer up to 50 degrees?

Savvy tech owners have learned to assume that Alexa and Siri are always listening, regardless of what the company says.

This goes double for those who have ever contributed to Donald J. Trump or one of his enterprises. You can bet whatever you tell Alexa also lands on a desk in the FBI.

If the bill passes the Senate, smart refrigerator owners and dieters can afford to lower their guard when they open the door.

Michael Reagan, the eldest son of President Reagan, is a Newsmax TV analyst. A syndicated columnist and author, he chairs The Reagan Legacy Foundation. Michael is an in-demand speaker with Premiere speaker's bureau. Read Michael Reagan's Reports — More Here.

Michael R. Shannon is a commentator, researcher for the League of American Voters, and an award-winning political and advertising consultant with nationwide and international experience. He is author of "Conservative Christian's Guidebook for Living in Secular Times (Now with added humor!)" Read Michael Shannon's Reports — More Here.