( CNN ) -- Imagine being alone in your house . It 's the middle of the night and suddenly , the lights go on . Without you switching them on . And then they go off . And a minute later , they are back on . The wife of Jeff Hagins , co-founder of SmartThings , gets this magic all the time . Her husband likes to show off how he can remotely control devices in his home -- including the lights . But the idea of smart homes goes beyond showing off . `` It 's a peace of mind thing , you can check if all the doors are locked or find out about a water leak , '' Hagins says . He says his company can make homes cheaper and greener to run . The system helps to save energy by cutting down waste -- such as switching lights off when motion sensors suggest nobody is around . Huge market . The future looks promising for the smart industry . A NextMarket report sees the U.S. market growing sixfold from $ 1.28 billion in 2014 to nearly $ 7.8 billion in 2019 . Smart locks sales alone will grow from $ 66 million to nearly $ 1 billion in just five years , the report suggests . Tech giants are jumping on board with their offering . Apple has announced its HomeKit service , which will allow home owners to control all connected devices in their homes . Google bought Nest , the company behind smart termostats that track users habits to heat or cool the house before they even realize they 'd like the temperature to change . Home automation company Belkin is foreseeing a world where people control everything with one app in their phones . `` Most people already use their smartphones as alarm clocks , so now they can start making their coffee before leaving the bed , '' says Kieran Hannon from Belkin . The company makes smart light switches , plugs and light bulbs , and has also partnered up with makers of kitchen devices to allow users to put their dinner to cook while on the way home from work . All the data . But with all the magic of connected homes comes a great concern about potential data misuse . Intimate information about people 's way of living would be incredibly valuable to companies wanting to target the right people with their products . Tony Fadell , the founder of Nest gets this question a lot -- cespecially since Google did n't hesitate to pay $ 3.2 billion for his company . Google is already using its users data to make money -- tracking what people search for and using that information to for targeted advertising . But Fadell says his company will never allow customers ' data to flow to advertisers . `` People are inviting our products to their homes , '' he says . `` The trust is very important . '' In the case of SmartThings , people have to specifically opt-in to share their data with outside companies . `` We do n't own the data , our customers do , '' Hagins says . He says there are situations when users want their data to be shared . If a house gets broken in , a home security app could automatically alert the police . Less scary scenario sees a gardening company tracking the moisture levels in a lawn , making sure the sprinkling system is switched on and off at right time . Hackers , welcome . Loosing a cell phones is annoying . Loosing a cell phone that controls nearly everything in your house can be a disaster -- like leaving your front door wide open to anyone to come in . A research by AVTest recently exposed the main gaps in security , such as the lack of encrypted communication , which leaves the systems vulnerable to viruses and malware . Hagins envisions a future where anyone can buy smart home apps just like they buy mobile phone apps . But that also means anyone can build these apps without any regulation . When Apple announced its vision of hooking up smart home devices with Bluetooth and Wifi in June , it also said it would not make its own smart home products . Instead it will partner up with established makers and equip their product with Apple chips . The company said it will require each partner to follow the same security standards as other Apple products . As it steps up its efforts to become part of the smart home market , Apple announced it will reveal more details on its `` Made For i '' conference in China . As the AVTest predicts , security is likely to be the trump card in the industry .
The smart industry is making millions , with the U.S. market predicted to reach $ 7.8 million by 2019 . However potential data misuse is still a concern for many users - Google is already using the data of its users to make money . Smart Home Apps can potentially put users at risk , especially when multiple systems are under the command of a single device .