Protecting Your Information: Bathroom

As with any wireless device, ensure that you use a strong password and promptly install manufacturer’s patches and updates.

Many toilets have features that connect to the cloud and include features such as cameras and fingerprint scanners on their handles. One Japanese toilet will even analyze your excreta and send you recipes based on your eating habits. Duke University research professor and cofounder of Coprata Sonia Grego is currently developing a toilet that can analyze stools for disease markers, which will provide early detection for diseases like cancer. A company called Casana Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov  has received a $30 million grant to pursue a Federal Drug Administration clearance for a smart toilet seat that has electronic sensors for logging heart rate and blood pressure built directly into the cushion.

Joshua Coon and Ian Miller of the University of Wisconsin, Madison are currently developing a “smart toilet” Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov  that can analyze blood disease markers that appear in your urine, how much and how well you sleep, what medications you’re taking, and how much caffeine or alcohol you’ve consumed with the ability to send that information directly to your doctor. The final product may include a screen above the tank, a phone app, a system for separating urine samples, and the ability to differentiate among up to a dozen users. Since these toilets/toilet seats can include wireless functions to transmit collected data and have related phone applications, they will pose the same risks and any other IoT device. Users need to take the same precautions they would with any other device.