Article | Beyond Connectivity, Security, Autonomous operations, Data management, Open Digital Framework (ODF), Internet of Things (IoT), Privacy & trust

When smart becomes deceptive: Are we too trusting?

24 Nov 2015

Last week I thought a lot about what makes a so-called smart device well and truly smart. I was actually rather surprised by the great response I got to this post, and it's led me think a lot more about smart things, and this question came to mind: How deeply do we want to integrate smart things into our lives? I think it's safe to say everyone reading this will have seen at least one of these films about a warped tech-dominated world: Her, Ex-Machina, Robot and Frank or Chappie, and several blockbusters and smaller indie movies warning us of the potential perils of making machines "too" clever. Now, I'm not saying we're on the verge, I'd even go so far as to say we are well aware of the risks and these films are testament to that. But, in the last few months as I've been speaking to people, both experts and laymen like myself, I've noticed a generalized concern about how far we really let tech into our personal lives. These worries are centered around security and privacy. Indeed it's virtually impossible to have a five-minute conversation about IoT without this coming up. And everyone seems to agree that we need to establish strict regulations and codes of conduct in and around IoT. The question is, who is authorized to do so, and who has the power to enforce them? There are easily several dozen groups around the world working in this direction, all with great supporting companies and ecosystem stakeholders. Is the industry actually getting anywhere though, and are consumer concerns actually slowing down IoT uptake? I'm as reluctant as the next person to give out my personal data and I detest having to sign up for an account on every other website or having to share my Facebook profile to access some content. I still do it though, because otherwise I miss out. Anyone with any sort of marketing insight will recognize this little phrase: the fear of missing out. It's powerful. It's emotional. It's instinctive. It's commercial gold! So how real are our fears about privacy and security and what are the lengths we will go to to protect our own data? We demand that the companies we share our data with guard it far better than we do ourselves, and that's fair enough. How, though, can we monitor how our data is used? Should we have a say? Should companies have to provide a product or service whether or not we choose to share our valuable data with them? How can they incentivize us if it comes to this? Should we have to manage our own privacy, keeping track of who we've shared what with? These questions become all the more valid if we look at personal physical data, health records, location info and such. When it comes to such questions, my question is, do we, as consumers, have any power at all?

Many say the customer will determine the direction and success of all developments. I wonder how true this is. The recent VW emissions scandal has resulted in some negative press, but I'm not seeing everyone who owns a VW (or Audi, or Skoda) running around demanding compensation from the manufacturer even thought they've been horrifically duped. Yes, some are angry, disappointed even, since we are emotional beings and like it or not big purchases like cars are usually emotionally driven, at least in part. But at the end of the day, most of the affected drivers didn't buy a VW on the single basis of its low emissions. They are good cars, no one will deny this. Consumers feel cheated, but I wouldn't say the trust is completely gone. So when a company wields so much power, what's to be done? As people turn things into smart things, it seems inevitable that we will introduce certain human characteristics into them including occasional dishonesty and self-preservation (sure I'm as good as you think, in fact I'm quite possibly a bit better). So a lying, cheating machine, is perhaps inevitable. Are we on a slippery slope with a 100m drop? Can we build a large enough safety net to catch us at the end of it? No one will deny that trust is an essential part that the ecosystem needs to work together on in order for the IoT to deliver its full benefits. So in my last post I wondered whether we're being a bit like overly proud parents claiming products and services are "smart" without actually being that impressive yet; here, on the other hand, I'm projecting a little and wondering if we're creating things that are too smart for our own good and whether we are trusting them with too much too soon. What are your thoughts on all this?