Technology

COMMENT

IoT basics: the internet of dumb things

It has been estimated that the Internet of Things (IoT) will consist of approximately 50 billion devices by 2020. These connected geegaws can collect and exchange data over the internet. They can detect that you have left your home, and shut off heating and lighting. They can allow you (and, in some circumstances, others) to remotely view webcams set up around your house. They can gather data on your activities, interests, health and habits.

What could possibly go wrong?

A glance over the current commercially available IoT devices shows a division into what appear to be two broad categories. The first comprises useful components such as smart lighting, home automation, learning thermostats, Amazon Echo and Alexa, Apple's Homekit technology and Google Home. These all offer time- and energy-saving benefits.

Then there are the demonstrably useless things, including smart water bottles, connected toothbrushes and, a personal favourite, the Bluetooth-enabled pregnancy testing kit.

The objects that fall into the latter category seem to be targeting consumers who are either too lazy to engage with life's quotidian responsibilities, or who feel their intelligence is so valuable that it would be a sin to waste any of it on flippancies such as personal hygiene.

A water bottle that tells your phone (or simply glows) when you have drunk enough water seems to obviate the process of evolution that has produced a bodily sensation recognisable as thirst. That is impressive, at least on one level.

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A toothbrush, on the other hand, with a 10-megapixel camera that can video the inside of your mouth presents a curious real-world value. Aside from saving all that tedious business of gaining a degree in dental medicine, breaking out the footage at a video-sharing dinner party is only really going to be trumped by someone who has put together a time-lapse piece on the innards of their septic-tank.

Once past the immediate, and slightly hesitant, question of what you may be required to pair it with, the Bluetooth-enabled pregnancy kit is an object of unsurpassed intrigue. Produced by a company called First Response – which sounds like it should be a division of Homeland Security – it requires the obligatory deposit on the tester and then an app will tell you the result while keeping you occupied with a variety of content during the analysis.

The app also, reportedly, requires access to your calendar and contacts, which has raised some eyebrows. Do people really track their menstrual cycles in Outlook? Are pregnancy results something you want to update to a group distribution list?

OK, flippancy aside, tracking dates can be vital when trying to conceive. Accessing contacts to create or assist with tracking relevant appointments makes a certain amount of sense. That said, giving the privacy notice a careful read might be valuable. Whether one feels comfortable trading off privacy and convenience is obviously a personal decision and not one confined to this device.

It is the speed of uptake and spread of IoT devices, without defined standards for privacy, and, indeed, without a defined standard for security processes such as upgrades and patching for vulnerabilities, that is concerning.

Since Google Street View cars were discovered hoovering up unencrypted Wi-Fi data a few years back, opportunities have been lost, ignored and deflected for educating the public regarding the data that is being broadcast or collected without their knowledge or understanding.

As recently as late last year, large internet properties were rendered inaccessible by distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks using only a small proportion of the unsecured IoT devices now hanging around. Given that many of these devices are not upgradable (or won't be), and many will remain in service for years to come, it appears that more thought could be given to security and privacy standards for IoT … preferably about three years ago.

Send your IoT tips to Phil: philwales@gmail.com