Smart home platform vendor Control4 is launching a new way to interact with its system called the Neeo. The Neeo is a touchscreen remote control that lets Control4 customers access their smart home devices and adjust settings, schedules, music playback, and more.

Google Home, Siri and Alexa users are now more cautious than ever when speaking to their smart home devices, after a string of revelations that these companies have been recording and reviewing users’ voice data without their consent. Since then, Google, Apple and Amazon have either suspended the activity of having humans review voice recordings (they claim this improves accuracy), or have begun allowing people to opt-in or out.

The more internet-connected devices (e.g. smart locks, Alexa) you add to your home security network, the greater the chance a cybercriminal has to hack it. The Internet of Things (IoT) includes any device or appliance that connects to the internet through your home network. Cybercriminals can access your home wireless network through your internet router—and once they’re in, it’s a cybercrime goldmine.

Over the past few decades, we’ve seen traditional home-technology integrators enter new categories, sometimes reluctantly, and often with great success – security, motorized shades, electrical contracting, IT, light commercial, independent living, and most recently light fixtures, to name a few. Is it possible that plumbing could be next?

When it comes to making a smart house into a smart home, there’s one feature that’s more important than all others: security. After all, cutting-edge technologies for your front door, windows, or garage only work if they’re able to keep you, your family, and your property safe. Thankfully, the forward-thinking minds at abode have created smart security products that not only work with your home, but for it.

Different cities, countries, and companies may have different perceptions and goals for smart cities, but for Cisco has one endgame in mind. According to Cao Tuqing, vice president and chief technology officer for Cisco in Greater China, smart cities enable sustainable development and use data collected from the public to “improve efficiency, lower costs, and at the end of the day, increase the wellbeing of citizens.”

When newcomers purchase a home in Black Diamond, they’re not just buying property – they’re staking out a position on how far they’ll allow tech companies to intrude into their lives. That’s something many us will need to navigate if this technology becomes standard in more neighborhoods.