That may be true for some, but I suspect most of these internet-based devices are little more than an excuse to get on the surveillance-as-a-business-model band

That may be true for some, but I suspect most of these internet-based devices are little more than an excuse to get on the surveillance-as-a-business-model bandwagon. All you need is a clever excuse to gather a new type of data that isn't currently being collected, and you have something to sell to "big data". Fortunately, even the non-technical people I know have started to wake up to these scams, and are now avoiding any "smart" product.