Smart device makers that don’t disclose how long they will support their products with software updates could be breaking the rules. Magnuson Moss Warranty Actwarned the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) this week.
The FTC issued its statement after reviewing 184 smart products across 64 product categories, including soundbars, video doorbells, breast pumps, smartphones, appliances and garage door opener controllers . Of the devices surveyed, the majority, or 163 to be precise, “did not disclose the support duration or end date of the connected device” on their product webpage, according to the company’s report. FTC (PDF). In contrast, 11.4% of devices reviewed shared a software support duration or end date on their product page.
Elusive information
Besides the fact that manufacturers often neglect to commit to software support for a specific length of time, it seems that even when they do share this information, it remains elusive.
For example, the FTC reported that some manufacturers publish software support dates, but not on the affected product’s web page. Instead, this information is sometimes buried in specifications, support, FAQ pages, or footnotes.
The FTC report adds:
…some have used ambiguous language that only implies the level of support provided, including phrases such as “lifetime technical support”, “as long as your device is fully operational”, and “continuous software updates”, For example. Notably, staff also had difficulty finding the device’s release date on product web pages…
At times, the FTC found glaring inconsistencies. For example, a device’s product page indicated that the device had “lifetime” support, but the search result pointing to the manufacturer’s support page indicated that although further updates “update could still be active, security updates to the device had stopped in 2021. ” according to the FTC.
Those who rely on Google’s AI insights may also be misled. In one case, AI Overviews pointed out that a smart gadget received “3-6 months of software support and updates.” But through the link provided by AI Overviews, the FTC discovered that the three to six month figure Google obtained actually referred to the next day, AI Overviews said it could not determine the length of software support or updates for the gadget, the FTC noted.