Internet of Things or Invasion of Technology?
Today, we live in a world where the dynamics of technology makes real life seem like reel-life. The 2010 Leonardo DiCaprio film, Inception, revolved around a thief who stole corporate secrets by using dream-sharing technology as he was given the task of planting an idea into the mind of a CEO. A few decades ago it would have been ‘un-reel’ to even imagine the things that we can do using the internet technology now.
What is IoT?
According to an article by Forbes, IoT is basically a concept wherein digital devices are connected to and controlled using the internet and vice-versa. Further it can be understood with examples of how this technology is being presently used. The Amazon Push Button allows us to restock home essentials such as detergents or certain food items with the push of a button placed at home, the Nest Learning Thermostat helps us to remotely control the heating of our houses, CCTV coverage as well as fire and smoke alarms.
Levels of IoT
An article in the Economic Times categorised Internet of Things into three realms, i.e., the individual level, the community level and the cities level. At the individual level, there are smartphones and various kinds of wearable devices such as the iWatch, FitBit and Google Glass. The community level may include ‘smart homes’ which include devices like the Amazon Push Button, Google Home, Amazon Echo, Nest Thermostat, etc. There are also devices like Mimo sleep tracker, which can be used for infants as well as elderly people to keep a check on their sleeping patterns. It also has sensors which send an alert if no movement has been detected after a certain time. IoT is majorly evolving in the area of health as well. The Vitality GlowCap is an easy-to-use, medication adherence system comprised of a smart cap, bottle and a mobile application. Automated visual and audible alerts are sent during scheduled timings when it is time for the user to take their medication. At the user’s request, the information may also be shared with their physicians, care takers, and family members. At the city level, there is a constant development of ‘smart cities’.
Utopian Movements Produce Dystopias
During a session on Internet of Things, we had discussions of how it is to live in a fully automated world. The rise of digitalisation and growing scale of Internet of Things seems very utopian. However, as the saying goes, “every coin has two sides” and Internet of Things is no exception to that. Amongst all the positive impacts there are also several downsides to it.
Downsides of IoT
Looking at the trends of IoT development, in times to come, all major infrastructural components will be linked to Internet of Things. In theory, this looks like a dream world to be living in, however, in practice it may do more harm than good. By allowing IoT to take over the world we are enabling unauthorised access and misuse of personal information, facilitating attacks on other systems and creating risks to personal safety.
- In order to create the perfect smart cities for the future, a lot of data about inhabitants of the city as well as visitors is collected, most of the times without people actually knowing. This information is then shared with many private companies for further analysis.
- Most of the times this information with the analytic companies is sold to third party companies for marketing purposes.
- When data is harvested by these institutions and also third party companies, they do not always have a very strong database management system. For example, as I mentioned in my Pecha Kucha presentation, a group of hackers hacked into the personal information of 57 million Uber customers which included names, email addresses and phone numbers, as well as the names of drivers and drivers’ licence numbers and Uber failed to notify the individuals as well as the regulators.
What about ethical violations?
- Firstly, it is very important for users to know what is being done with the information that they are voluntarily or involuntarily providing. Consumers usually choose brands they prefer and thus trust them with their information. It is the duty of these brands and companies to protect their data.
- There is a term known as ‘technological unemployment’. While this may not necessarily be an ethical violation per say, it should be an ethical consideration. If machines take over the world and leave people unemployed, how will they ever be able to afford this technology which is made for the people by the people?
Overcoming These Implications
NOTICE AND CHOICE
When collecting data for any purpose, users must be well notified and given a choice as to till what extent they want their data to be used. This does not mean that for all data collections, choices should be provided, however if the intent is to use the data further than the knowledge of the user, they must be notified and given a choice.
DATA MINIMISATION
Data minimisation refers to the concept that companies should limit the data they collect and retain, and dispose of it once they no longer need it.
LEGISLATION
The government must keep up with the advancements of technology and consequently and continually strengthen its existing data security enforcement. Also, in reference to the situation of potential unemployment in the future, governments must start investing in their workforce in order to keep up with the changes and avoiding talent shortages leading to mass unemployment.
MY REFLECTION
I initially began the course with certain ideas about what we were going to learn through the unit, however, what I have actually gained through this unit is much more than I had anticipated and makes complete sense as a whole. I thought this unit was about social media and how it is used in the world of business. Up until now, for me, a ‘digital society’ simply implied the evolution and growing dependence of people on technology and how various occupations all around the world are becoming more and more dependent on the use of technology. This wasn’t a wrong assumption, however, it is now, at the end of this unit, that I realise that a ‘digital society’ is much more than just that.
I had always wanted to do a blog post, not own a blog, but definitely do a few posts for someone. DigiSoc1 gave me the opportunity to do just that. It wasn’t my finest piece of assessed work, however, I learnt a lot from the mistakes I made. A challenging aspect for me during the course unit was DigiSoc2, which was the Pecha Kucha presentation. I have always been scared of presenting in public and most certainly when it is to be done within a set time frame. Although marks awarded were only based on the submitted presentation and not the actual presentation in front of our peers, I made sure to attend and present in order to overcome this fear of mine. I realise now that it was very important for me to present the Pecha Kucha because it is a very unique kind of presentation which may have a lot of scope in the actual world.
There are numerous skills that I picked up during the course of this unit. These skills were not only relevant to the course but extremely useful for application in the actual digital world. Starting from DigiSoc1, we learnt the importance of intellectual property, privacy protection, how important it is to reference any idea that you have borrowed, regardless of the type of source, etc. For the Pecha Kucha presentation we were taught how to collect industrial data and statistics from authentic sources such as Business Source Premier and Mintel.
My knowledge and skills about living in a digital society have grown considerably. I have learnt about the advantages and implications of living in an interconnected world (Internet of Things and Smart Cities) and it has made me very curious to keep studying and learning about these phenomena further. I have also learnt a lot from the mistakes I made during the beginning of the unit and the first two assessments. I did actively take part in the discussions in class and therefore could not refer to my peers’ ideas in my assessments. Few areas where I lost out on obtaining marks were incorrect referencing, not being able to link and embed sources and thus going over the required word count and most importantly, my way of writing blog posts. I believe I have gained from all the experiences and mistakes made during the the course of this unit and hopefully this last post will be a reflection of that.
