Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on Tuesday urged lawmakers to support a bipartisan bill that would inform consumers when their smart devices are “spying” on them.
Cruz, the ranking member on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, went to the Senate floor and spoke in favor of the Informing Consumers about the Smart Devices Act — a bill he introduced alongside Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., the committee chair. The bipartisan bill would require the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to mandate that smart devices disclose to customers whether they have audio or visual recording components.
The Texas senator warned that common household appliances like refrigerators, washers, dryers and even air fryers could have microphones or cameras that infringe on their owners’ privacy.
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“With any technological advancement, there can be trade-offs, and for smart devices one of the potential trade-offs is our privacy,” Cruz said Tuesday. “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.”
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Cruz said his bipartisan bill would ensure that consumers know whether a smart device they buy for their home will photograph or film them, so it doesn’t happen without their knowledge.
He argued against objections raised by the libertarian-minded Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who said such a mandate would be costly to manufacturers would assume that consumers aren’t sophisticated enough to make judgments for themselves.
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“Now, I’m sympathetic to the argument that there are too many mandates from government and that many of the mandates are unnecessary, burdensome and costly,” Cruz said. “But requiring a manufacturer to tell you if they’re spying on you does not fall into that category. And I have to say in assessing the minimal burden, the disclosure burden, against the harm, I fall down on the side of individual liberty. I fall down on the side of privacy.”
He added, “I don’t think the American people want their air fryer spying on them. And at a minimum, they have a right to know if their air fryer is spying on them.”
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Cruz observed that his bill had strong bipartisan support in committee and predicted it would pass 99-1 if brought to the floor for a vote.
The one “no” vote would come from Paul, who objected to Cruz’s request for unanimous consent to pass the bill.