Who owns your data and when

This piece from the Atlantic will make you consider not to whom you're giving you're data, but with whom it may eventually reside. From the article:

If a...company can’t legally sell off its data, then it may just sell itself in order to cut its losses. Among the post-crash rubble, the principal value that a potential buyer might see in snapping up the company is its data. It’s like an acquisition hire, but for a huge and detailed dataset.

I agree that the best way to protect your personal data is not to provide it. More than once I've heard people offer justifications for providing personal data to a company simply because, they "trust them."

That's fantastic to have a service provider/company that you trust, but that rationalization presupposes the company and its policies are persistent. I'm not on every social media platform, but there's not one that didn't have at least one update to its privacy policy or terms of service. What's more likely is the company you're providing your data is aiming to be acquired by a larger company, whose privacy policies may not be in line with the original for which you signed up. And with most companies opting to collect as much data as possible and decide what to do with it later, at some point, your data could be in the hands of someone with whom you didn't intend to share it.

Security challenges of IoT

At a recent panel discussion, EFF hits the nail on the head with the IoT and security. A quote from EFF's Nate Cardozo:

“If the data is there you’re going to have to protect it. One way of protecting it, of course, is to not collect it in the first place... That’s a great way of keeping all of that content secure.”

Mr. Cardozo's further discusses the security issues of industries who have never had to deal with security in the past, namely the medical device industry. There's genuine concern over securing data for connected devices, but perhaps a more urgent concern — especially for the medical device industry —  is ransomware in IoT devices. It’s one thing to have your health data stolen, it’s another to have a connected pacemaker, for example, held for ransom.

Continuing with Mr. Cardozo’s comment on the benefits of a zero knowledge model, there are more than a few industries and devices that would benefit from non-connection solution until either 1) the industry becomes more security-savvy or 2) IoT security becomes standardized.

IoT fragmentation as a business model

Recently, Machina Research brings news that competition in the IoT market leads to waste for those funding IoT development. It's dangerous to frame competition vaguely as waste instead of incentive. IoT companies want that funding and will develop rapidly to gain it. From the article:

The world of IoT is currently characterized by competing technologies and platforms, further complicated by numerous standards development organizations, and this fragmentation is causing a delay in the widespread adoption of IoT.... We can’t hope to realize any smart city ambitions until all stakeholders can agree on a common set of IoT standards.

In terms of IoT security, I definitely agree with standardization. However, when considering IoT adoption and deployment, there are a few problems with trying to standardize now — the field is still too new:

  1. Standardization would hinder development at this point in the field. IoT is still a new and exciting space. Diverting effort away from development and towards standardization would negatively impact the young industry.
  2. Industry standards best come from industry experts. Most people would probably agree the USB connector is a great standard and has made connecting things easier than it was years prior. This is because it was designed by a group of industry experts from seven different companies in a mature space who needed a common solution.
  3. Opportunity and competition to become an expert drives the IoT industry at this point. The incentive and freedom to become an industry leader will have a greater impact on long-term IoT adoption and deployment. At this time, we’re all benefiting from IoT companies having the freedom to develop.

Your favorite technology/product/service was the result of a companies competing for your business. IoT is no different.