Ah, the Internet of Things.
Just the sound of it sends thrills, chills and huge question marks through both technologists and regular people alike.
- Track your health.
- Track your kids.
- Track your home.
- Talk to your fridge.
- Talk to your car.
- Have your fridge, oven, and tv connected to your smartphone, not to mention the video doorbell.
I could go on with this list. But why bother?
The Internet of Things, or IOT as it is called in the media, by analysts and techies alike is an amorphous concept and does not easily translate into everyday speak for the average person.
There are cybersecurity concerns with the overlapping inter-connectedness that are growing exponentially by the month; as more and more devices come on line, get connected to the Internet. Many if not most have little to zero security protocols built in.
There is no current "IOT cybersecurity standard" or anything close. As a result, the apps and tools that seemingly make your life so easy, are in most probability leaking, if not pouring personal information about you or your family onto the internet in ways you may or may not be aware of.
There are reputation control and reputation management issues arising from both the above mentioned inter-connectedness as well as from some basic common sense things that come from having devices connected to the Internet and talking to "home" or each other in ways that also reveal identity, location and other personal information. Some of these IOT apps and tools even tweet or post other social updates for you as reminders, alerts and other pushed out information into public or semi public arenas.
- Does everything have to be connected to everything and what happens with a point of failure or with multiple points?
- Even if you want to track your whole life, does it need tracking?
- Does the good of the device in your life outweigh the bad of the cybersecurity or reputation risks?
- Do your kids' need this tracking on them and beyond knowing where they are, do you want your kids' information in companies with weak or zero cybersecurity protections?
- Do you want your kids' information broadcast out to the Internet because of auto update or bot tweeting something?