Researcher: ‘Evidence Indicates’ Chinese Company Is Spying on Americans Via Coffee Machines

China may be gathering a wide variety of data from China-made electronic appliances used by overseas consumers worldwide, research from the New Kite Data Labs suggested.

The report by researchers, Christopher Balding and Joe Wu, found that a Chinese coffee machine manufacturer is collecting comprehensive pattern data from devices used by ordinary consumers.

“China is really collecting data on really just anything and everything,” Balding told The Washington Times. “As a manufacturing hub of the world, they can put this capability in all kinds of devices that go out all over the world.”

Balding and Wu examined information gathered by a Chinese manufacturer of smart coffee machines to reach those findings. According to the researchers, this data included data on drink production, location and payment information.

Balding told The Washington Times that the data in question comes from smart home appliances manufacturer Kalerm in Jiangsu, China, which sells fully automated coffee machines.

However, the researcher did not specify how he obtained information about Kalerm’s data gathering.

Balding justified his withholding by stating that he did not want China to intercept his attempts to learn about its data harvesting, The Washington Times reported.