Smart Devices, Tech Abuse, & Coercive Control

Narcissist Apocalypse: Patterns of Abuse

Abuse Survivor Network

True Crime, Society & Culture, Education, Relationships, Self-improvement

4.7 • 791 Ratings

🗓️ 19 May 2026

⏱️ 17 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode of Narcissist Apocalypse, we discuss how smart devices and smart technology can be used as tools of coercive control, surveillance, harassment, and post-separation abuse. Brandon talks about smart locks, cameras, doorbell systems, thermostats, smart speakers, connected cars, family accounts, AirTags, GPS trackers, and children’s devices. He explains how these tools can be used to create fear, doubt, isolation, sleep deprivation, and a sense that the survivor is being watched even when they cannot prove it. The episode also explores tech-enabled gaslighting, intimate partner surveillance, AI-assisted monitoring, and the importance of safety planning before removing access or changing accounts. Brandon also shares practical steps for taking inventory, documenting incidents, checking shared access, creating new accounts, sweeping physical spaces, and finding tech-safety support.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Narcissist Apocalypse, everyone. I am Brandon Chadwick and today we will be discussing
0:07.9	smart devices, smart technology, and coercive control. And right now we're living in this modern
0:15.8	age of the movie Gaslight, where someone doesn't have to be physically around to move and shift things
0:23.2	to change things like your house temperature, your lights, the lock to your door, your TV station.
0:30.5	So I want you to start imagining right now waking up in the middle of the night and your house is
0:35.3	freezing. You know, your temperature is always set
0:38.1	between 69 and 71 degrees, but yet when you check the thermostat, it's now 55. Or on another night,
0:46.1	or maybe even on the same night, you have the lights off and then all of a sudden your bedroom lights
0:50.1	just turn on by themselves. So either you have a ghost in the house or the abuser in your life who set all these
0:58.7	smart devices up has access through apps on their devices, whether they moved out or
1:04.6	they're still living with you.
1:06.1	They are trying to create fear and or doubt in you.
1:10.8	And it is scary stuff. And your smart home is now a weapon for them.
1:17.1	So when I say smart home, I'm talking about the whole smart ecosystem.
1:22.2	Smart locks, the kind you can unlock from your phone anywhere in the world.
1:27.3	Cameras, doorbell cameras, indoor cameras, nanny cams, outdoor security cameras.
1:34.0	Most of them have audio recording and many have two-way audio,
1:38.1	which means whoever controls them can speak through them as well.
1:42.3	Thermostatch, which are controllable remotely. Smart lights. They can go on,
1:47.3	off, change color. Brightness can be controlled remotely through apps. Smart speakers like the Alexa,
1:54.0	Google Home, Apple HomePod. They're always listening for a wake word, but they can also create logs of what is said to them.
2:02.2	So the abuser is in charge of this device as well.
	...

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