A home used to keep work, sellers and strangers outside, and the wall did that by itself. Devices bought for real conveniences now carry all three back in.
A day at home: what each device is for, and what each one sends out.
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The data is routine, not content
- When you are in, from a speaker, a thermostat or a doorbell.
- Who visits, from a camera that was bought to deter parcel theft.
- What you watch and for how long, from a television.
- How you sleep and move, from a watch.
Routine is worth more than content: Nobody needs a recording of your conversation. Knowing that the house is empty on Thursday evenings, that you are awake at three, or that your routine has changed is more useful and feels far less private.
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What came in
- Work, with no end to the day
- Shops, with no closing time
- News and argument, continuously
What went out
- Records of when you are home
- Records of what you watch
- Records of how you sleep
Real-world examples you can name
School closures and remote learning — 2020–2022
At the peak, UNESCO counted over 1.5 billion learners out of school. Where teaching moved online it kept going for households with a device and a connection and stopped for those without, turning the digital divide into a measurable gap in learning.
Who it affected: School-age children, most sharply those in low-income and rural households.
Consumer wearables detecting atrial fibrillation — Apple Heart Study published 2019
A smartwatch notifies the wearer of an irregular pulse. A large study found most people notified did have an irregular rhythm on follow-up, but only a small fraction of wearers were ever notified — so it screens, it does not diagnose.
Who it affected: Wearers who found a condition early, and health systems handling the consultations that false alarms generate.
How this is tested — home and leisure sources appear constantly, and the good answer is about the boundary rather than about the gadget. It comes up two ways:
Paper 1 — structured question
- Part b: explain a privacy concern about a home device
- Part c: evaluate the impact of remote work on home life
Paper 2 — source-based question
- Q2: explain what a source says about home life
- Q4: synthesise sources on work and home
The trap: listing devices: Name what each one sends out and who receives it. A list of smart objects is a description, not an answer.
Explain one privacy concern raised by devices in the home.
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Discuss the impact of remote work on home life.
Model answer plan
See the mark-by-mark plan — for / against / judgement, with marking guidance — in study mode.