The past few years have shown an uneven (yet inevitable) transition to a more internet-connected lifestyle.

Consumers buy more smart devices each year — from kitchen appliances, lighting and sprinkler systems to smart cars and wearable devices — and manufacturers keep creating new ones. While some may not have noticed it, connected sensors already stitch together whole swathes of our economy.

As is often the case with transformative change, these advances also involve risk. Understanding that risk is important to maintaining and building customer relationships in the future.

Promise and risk

To examine attitudes across an increasingly connected landscape, Assurant recently conducted a comprehensive survey of U.S. consumers. Overall, the study, titled "Connected Future: Navigating Promise and Risk," found that connected technology's leading benefits (cited as savings, enjoyment and peace of mind) are also accompanied by anxiety and uncertainty.