Kathmandu: Samsung’s Family Hub smart fridge, unveiled at the beginning of 2025, has become embroiled in controversy. This AI-powered refrigerator is under scrutiny over user data security. According to a report published in Euro Weekly News, the appliance is not merely a device for storing food but is also designed to track inventory via an internal camera. Since every item’s label and status captured by the fridge’s camera is stored on a cloud server, there is a possibility that personal user data could be collected beyond its intended service scope—raising serious questions about data protection.
“The Family Hub fridge’s voice-command system can hear both the user’s speech and ambient sounds. It uses technology that sends voice data to the server to update the managed inventory system, which means personal information could be transmitted without users realizing. Additionally, images captured by the internal camera are continuously uploaded to the server. In this scenario, the risk of hacker attacks or third parties accessing personal information without authorization increases,” the report states.
Samsung, however, has defended the design by saying that security standards were taken into account and that users can control data sharing by adjusting privacy settings. The company also acknowledges that voice-command and camera data are encrypted when sent to the server, and it may implement additional security layers to ensure complete protection, the report notes.
