Most smart home devices are losing manufacturer support without warning, and the US wants to fix it

In September, iFixit, as well as the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Consumer Reports, sent a letter to the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), pointing out unfair practices by manufacturers of smart home devices. Companies do not warn manufacturers that they will no longer support these devices, limiting their functionality or making them unusable altogether.

Image source: Jakub Żerdzicki / unsplash.com

Based on this complaint, the FTC conducted a study and found (PDF) that many companies that develop and sell smart home devices do not disclose the support periods for these products. Having studied 184 devices in 64 categories, the agency found that in only 11.3% of cases, information about the duration of software support for it was indicated on the product page. In 89% of cases, this information could not be found prominently on the website or in any other product-related materials. This information should be discovered without significant effort, but for 124 devices the agency could not find any information at all. Google’s feature of generative artificial intelligence summaries of search results has only complicated the situation – these materials often contain factual errors.

For products with written warranties and prices starting at $15, failure to disclose this important information is a violation of the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act in the United States. Even when some software support information was available, the wording was ambiguous or misleading. Phrases such as “constant software updates,” “lifetime technical support,” and “as long as your device is fully functional” were often inconsistent with reality. In one case, the manufacturer claimed “lifetime support” on the product page, but no security updates have been released since 2021. In another case, the device page made the same reassurance, but an adjacent section of the site said support would end in 2028.

The results of the FTC study confirmed the validity of the claims made by human rights activists. Human rights activists propose introducing new standards for manufacturers of smart home components – consumers should have a clear understanding of the operating time of devices connected to the Internet in order to be able to make an informed decision about their purchase. This will also increase competition among manufacturers to produce more durable products.