What we found
Pulsar Plus: DAn app that controls your car charger collects your face scan for facial recognition and shares it with unnamed third-party companies that specialise in iden...
The myWallbox app (v2.104.0) requests CAMERA permission — needed for facial recognition features disclosed in the privacy policy. However, for an EV charger companion app, camera and biometric data collection is extreme overreach. The policy also discloses sharing biometric data with "suppliers of systems for the recognition and identification of users by face, fingerprint or voice" — third-party biometric processors for a charging app.
Wall Connector Gen 3: DTesla says they only collect the minimum data needed to run your charger.
The Tesla companion app requests 40 permissions including ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION, ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION, CAMERA, RECORD_AUDIO, READ_CONTACTS, READ_CALENDAR, WRITE_CALENDAR, CALL_PHONE, and UWB_RANGING. A wall charger has no functional need for microphone access, calendar read/write, contact list access, phone calling capability, or camera access. These permissions far exceed what is needed to monitor charging status.
IQ Gateway: DEnphase promotes strong cybersecurity, but their gateway had six critical security holes that let hackers take complete control of 4 million devices without ...
Seven CVEs documented against the IQ Gateway including CVE-2024-21876 (CVSS 9.3 critical path traversal), CVE-2024-21878 (command injection), and CVE-2023-33869 (root-level command injection). Three vulnerabilities can be chained for unauthenticated remote code execution. These vulnerabilities existed across firmware versions 4.x through 8.x, spanning years of deployment across 4+ million devices in 150+ countries.
Smart Meter (EDMI Atlas / Landis+Gyr E355): DIntellihub says they only collect data you give them voluntarily.
AEMC rule change mandates 100% smart meter installation by 2030 with no opt-out provision. Meters automatically record energy usage at 5-minute intervals. Data collection is compulsory under Australian energy regulation, not voluntary.