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This Morning expert reveals how to stop smart devices spying on you and your family at home

10 March 2020, 13:03 | Updated: 10 March 2020, 13:47

This Morning viewers were taught about the dangers of smart devices. Picture: ITV

Alice Beer appeared on This Morning today to explain to viewers how they can use their smart devices safely.

While gadgets such as smart speakers and baby monitors can make our lives a lot easier, there has been growing concern over criminals spying on families.

So, This Morning presenters Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield were joined by lifestyle expert Alice Beer on Tuesday to find out how families can protect themselves from hackers.

Speaking on the show, Alice said that everyone needs to enable all the layers of security in their gadgets to ensure they are harder to get into.

Alice Beer explained how to keep smart devices safe. Picture: ITV

She started by encouraging viewers to use different passwords for everything, as well as setting up ‘Two factor authentication’ which means a code gets sent to their phone every time someone is trying to access their accounts.

When it comes to smart TVs and laptops, Alice then told Phil and Holly that they should update software regularly to ensure they are as secure as possible.

If you're worried about strangers spying on you, cameras on these devices can be covered up with a sticky note, or specially designed black stickers which can be bought on Amazon.

Smart devices on This Morning. Picture: ITV

Alice then moved on to baby monitors, insisting that all new parents should look into the company they are buying from beforehand to see what the reviews are like.

Consumer company Which? often test how secure products are by looking at whether they have had security breaches in the past, so this is important to take into consideration.

She also advised turning off all smart devices if they are not in use.

Talk then turned to smart speaks such as Amazon Alexas and Google Homes, to which Phillip, 57, said: “Mine is turned off at the wall when I don’t use it - the minute I have finished listening to music, I will turn it off at the wall.”

Alice went on to explain that smart speakers are “listening to you all the time” - but only record when you wake it up.

The companies can then send your voice clips off to "graders” who listen to a small portion of recordings to verify accuracy and keep improving the system.

To stop this information from being passed on, you can go into your settings to manage your data and delete previous recordings.