Prego Sparks Privacy Concerns After Launching a Device Designed to Record Mealtime Conversations

Prego, a popular sauce company, just launched a device designed to record private mealtime conversations among family and friends over a bowl of pasta. The brand's sales pitch looks great on paper, but some users have expressed growing concerns with regard to their privacy.

The recording device was designed in partnership with StoryCorps, a nonprofit organisation known for collecting stories from Americans. These stories are preserved at the Library of Congress for generations to come.

How the Device Works

The Connection Keeper is a puck-like recording device that is placed at the centre of the dinner table during mealtime. The goal is for the device to record real dinnertime conversations. A button needs to be pressed on top of the puck-like device to start recording.

The device can be charged using a USB-C cable, and it comes with a 16GB microSD card. The device does not come with a screen, and it cannot be connected to the internet. Recorded conversations can be transferred to the StoryCorps portal using the cable. These recordings will be available and shareable starting 4 May.

Privacy Concerns

Some social media users have expressed concerns over their privacy if they decide to use the Connection Keeper. On X, some said that trust is the biggest question since the $20 (£15) device with no internet connection can record conversations with no verifiable safeguard on local recording.

Others are convinced that the conversations can be used to steal a person's information or worse, compromise their safety.

'A $20 (£15) table device recording dinner conversations? Even with 'no internet,' trust would still be the biggest question,' one person wrote.

'These corps love stealing your private info and selling for profit. I've yet to see a company offer the consumer money for their private info. Like pay the person providing the product should be a no brainer,' another person wrote.

'I get the idea of preserving family stories, but a constant recording 'puck' at the dinner table would feel a bit invasive for most people. Privacy would be the big concern,' another person commented.

Fully Encrypted With Extensive Privacy Controls

According to Prego, the StoryCorps portal is encrypted and offers full privacy controls. However, the pasta sauce company has not provided a full rundown of how the device will work. Even though StoryCorps will keep the conversations private by default, uploading them to the organisation's public archive means anyone can have access to even the most private family conversations available there.

According to Prego, the Connection Keeper will only be available in a limited run of 100 units. Despite its limited availability, it is worth noting that each device has a 16GB SD card that can record approximately eight hours' worth of conversations, which means the most mundane to the most serious topics can be discussed and recorded at the dinner table.

Prego's goal is for families to have conversations at the dinner table while enjoying their favourite pasta sauce. While the idea of immortalising these conversations seems interesting, the same thing can be done using the voice recording feature on the latest mobile phones available in the market today.