If there's a gadget-lover in your life, chances are they're getting a "smart" device for Christmas.

But would-be tech buyers beware: if that device is a smart speaker or similar internet-connected home device, you may be getting more than your money's worth.

Voice-enabled speakers and other home devices connected to the internet do not pose a threat to privacy by themselves, but the risks — according to Edith Cowan University cyber security expert Paul Haskell-Dowland — are that these devices may be used as portals to personal information.

"We are giving permission for our home recordings to be sent into the cloud, for people that we don't know to be then processing this data," he said.

"[You are] placing your aural recordings into the cloud, into the internet and on servers that are outside of your control, outside of potentially even your country's jurisdiction."

Hacker blackmail threat

Voice-enabled speakers, such as Google Home, constantly record sound in the surrounding environment to refine their sensitivity to an individual's voice and thus improve their performance in responding to verbal commands.

In theory, those recordings could be retrieved by hackers and used as blackmail if they contain compromising information.

But that third-party access to personal information is just the start of the problem.

Amazon's Echo device is one of the new tech devices experts are warning about. ( Supplied: Amazon.com )

In purchasing and registering a device, an individual has likely provided their name, email address, user name and password, along with credit card details — all of which constitutes personally identifiable data.

"Any data about an individual has value," Associate Professor Haskell-Dowland said.

"Although we may think that the environment in which we live, that the information that is passed around within the home environment isn't important, it suddenly can become so.

"We've seen examples in the real estate area where photos of people's homes have been misused by third parties."

He said the average home user may not even be aware that their recordings are being stored on the internet, because the terms and conditions of use are too complicated — and the policy documents too long — to read easily.

Metadata means mega profits

By 2020, it is estimated between 40 billion and 200 billion devices will be connected to the internet worldwide, according to Australian eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant.

"We're just at the tip of the iceberg here in terms of everything being connected, from your car, to your refrigerator, to your phone," she said.

For the manufacturers of these devices, "data is everything", says Perth-based cyber security advisor Robbie Whittome.

Robbie Whittome advises people not to connect their smart TVs to the internet. ( ABC News: Emily Piesse )

"The devices, the hardware, these are all means to access data, that's the important part," he said.

"The more you can distance yourself away from putting that sensitive, really important information on the internet, the better."

Peter Hannay, who studies small device data acquisition and analysis at Edith Cowan University, says metadata is extremely valuable to technology companies because it facilitates product refinement and, ultimately, bigger profits.

"They're trying to build products which are more desirable to the consumer, that you wish to interact with more and more," Dr Hannay said.

"They're trying to figure out who uses their products, how their products are used, how they can better market these and they'll send that data off to teams of psychologists who are trying to analyse why people use it, what reaction people are experiencing when they use the product and how to further incentivise the use of it."

The danger arises, he said, when an individual's data is not securely stored by the companies that collect it, or the subsidiaries they share it with.

"Essentially, this data gets to a whole bunch of places and the potential for misuse is really, really high," he said.

How to protect your data

Dr Hannay said financial fraud due to identity theft is the main risk individuals face when they use internet-enabled devices.

"The number one thing that people can do is keep an eye on their bank account transactions," he said.

Another way to minimise the risk of privacy breaches is to reduce the number of devices that are connected to an individual's home network.

'Smart' speakers, such as Google Home, may provide a portal to personal information for hackers. ( ABC News: Emily Piesse )

"Almost every TV you see on the market at the moment is a smart TV, but almost nobody uses those features. They'll plug in something else that does their Netflix, or they'll use another device," he said.

"If you're not using, or don't plan to use those internet features, just don't hook it into your wifi, don't hook it up to the internet."

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner is updating its guide to data breach notification, which will provide information to the public on what to do in the event of information security breaches.

The guide is due to be published early next year.