Carmi Levy

They show a 62% rise in reports of this kind of activity.

between 2024 and 2025.

And so the worry here is, is that smart devices are becoming far more pervasive.

So, you know, your old doorbell dies, you put on a ring doorbell, your old thermostat dies, of course you're getting a smart thermostat.

And so as these things are connectable,

They connect to the cloud, they use apps to remotely set settings.

It allows a stalker, it allows an abusive member of an intimate relationship to use this technology against the other, against the victim.

It used to be you would crank up the heat in the house and make them uncomfortable.

Now it's, well, with a smart lock, you can actually lock a victim into a home against their will.

You can use location sharing on a smart watch or a smartphone or a smart ring to know where your victim is and target them there.

And these kinds of abuses, technologically enabled, you might think, well,

well, why don't they just take the smart watch off?

Well, you know, when you're being victimized in an intimate partner relationship, you may not have the option to do so.

Or you may not know, like you may not know someone is using that watch or ring to track you.

That's precisely it.

And so you may not always, in some cases it's on different accounts or it's on common accounts, the notifications aren't turned on.

So there are all sorts of ways for this to be

My wife and I use location sharing.

I'm a cyclist and things can happen to me.

So obviously she's aware of my location, but that is consensual.