Arçelik, The Electrolux Group, Haier, GE Appliances, Samsung, and Trane Residential announced the launch of the Home Connectivity Alliance to provide consumers with safer, simpler and more interoperable options in their connected home. HCA's goal is to provide consumers with more choices for their connected home through C2C (Cloud-to-Cloud) interoperability, supporting the compatibility of devices across brands. Along with interoperability, consumer safety and data privacy are key pillars of HCA's mission.

Driven by the exponential growth of big data, consumer privacy and data protection have become top priorities for device manufacturers. New smart features on connected devices (like remote diagnostics, remote start/stop, etc.) provide a new layer of convenience. However, unauthorized access to such features would lead to consumer dissatisfaction and mistrust.

Connected device manufacturers hold the responsibility to protect consumers from these risks and to safeguard data generated by these devices. In addition, complex smart devices with moving and mechanical parts–including those with high voltage electrical components and heating elements–require safety expertise from companies that understand these devices best. Leveraging the collective background, experience and knowledge across its manufacturer membership base, HCA will prioritize consumer safety in the digital landscape.

Katherine Shin, Secretary at Home Connectivity Alliance and Vice President of Customer Experience for the Residential HVAC and Supply business at Trane Technologies, provides the following: HCA members will have the opportunity to innovate, influence industry trends, share expertise across peers and become leaders in expanding the connected home ecosystem. Through collaboration with other standards organizations and governing entities, HCA will foster fair competition and drive innovation to provide the safest, most feature-rich connected home experience for consumers.