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Braun Audio - Smart Speaker respects privacy

Braun Audio is convinced that control over one's own data and the preservation of privacy should not be a contradiction in terms when using smart speakers and explicitly emphasises that it relies on beautiful, yet secure solutions.

Story Highlights
  • Smart speakers, where the user can deactivate all smart functions at the touch of a button to maintain privacy, are the focus of Braun Audio.

There is a great deal of scepticism about so-called smart systems, such as smart speakers, according to Braun Audio, the subsidiary of Procter & Gamble, which, as is well known, is once again involved with consumer electronics products and, of course, also relies on solutions that can be classified as smart speakers.

According to the company, special attention is paid to meeting the needs of users for the security of their own data and the protection of their privacy. Braun Audio’s solutions should therefore only demonstrate their smart capabilities when explicitly requested by the user.

Good design makes products usable

The Braun brand is inseparably linked with an industrial designer, namely Dieter Rams, who advocated the philosophy that good design makes products usable, and who thus proclaimed design as the interface between people and products.

Especially in times of networked solutions, Braun Audio is convinced that this philosophy has to be thought of in a broader context, especially since so-called smart devices and smart appliances are increasingly penetrating our everyday lives and, in addition to numerous advantages, also bring with them many a problem.

Concerns about one’s own data and privacy

Braun Audio refers to a recent studio by Statista, for example, according to which the most common reason for not using a so-called smart speaker is concern about one’s own data and privacy. According to Braun Audio, many manufacturers simply do not take this aspect into account at all or only insufficiently and thus leave out a very relevant customer group.

For Braun Audio, it is a matter of course to handle this differently, after all, smart speakers offer a lot of convenience in everyday life, which all customers would value.

The pivotal point in the question of privacy and data security is, of course, the microphone integrated into smart speakers for simple voice control. There is a concern that these microphones may record unauthorised conversations and send them over the internet to the manufacturers or even to third parties.

Of course, the corresponding solutions from Braun Audio, the Braun LE Series of so-called Smart Speakers of the premium class, also have such a microphone, but this can be completely switched off if desired, not only via the app and thus only via software, but also via a button specifically provided for this purpose and via hardware.

Smart Speaker of the Braun LE Series with privacy button

The speakers from Braun Audio thus have a so-called privacy button that physically separates the microphones inside the device from the rest of the technology. This reliably prevents any access and, in contrast to software solutions, cannot be circumvented. According to the manufacturer, this should allow even security-conscious users to use such speakers without hesitation.

Beautiful, but secure

From Braun Audio’s point of view, the solutions of the Braun LE Series, i.e. the models Braun LE01, Braun LE02 and Braun LE03, combine an outstanding design with the sound of premium smart speakers and their comfort, but also everything that is relevant to the protection of personal data and privacy.

Getting to the point

It is indeed a topic that is often given far too little attention, namely the way in which smart devices such as smart speakers handle personal data and what possibilities there are to combine comfort with the demand for privacy. The path that Braun Audio chose for the solutions of the Braun LE Series is probably the right one, because the user can use all the functions that can be expected from a smart speaker, but can also make the speakers “stupid” again, to put it so pointedly, by actually switching off the integrated microphone completely.

PRODUCTBRAUN LE SERIES
PriceBraun LE01 € 1.199,-
Braun LE02 € 799,-
Braun LE03 € 379,-
BRANDBRAUN AUDIO
ManufacturerThe Procter & Gamble Company
DistributionATS trade&service GmbH
More about this manufacturer at HIFI BLOG
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Michael Holzinger

Michael Holzinger, founder and editor-in-chief of HiFi BLOG and sempre-audio.at, has been working for years as a journalist in the fields of IT, photography, telecommunications and consumer electronics.

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