Paper Example on Interconnected World: Exploring the Impact of IoT

Introduction

The world we live in today is an interconnected one where different people can be connected through their devices by intelligent algorithms, social media networks, applications, and other infrastructure set up by Internet of Things(IoT) (Jan , Oscar and Klaus). IoT is probably the next phase of multimedia which entails; sophisticated sensors, complex algorithms, smart mobile devices, and even web servers. The interconnection of many people without much restriction comes with a lot of issues some of which includes; security, privacy, and even honesty and trust remain compromised (David and Jefferies). However, the current literature and publications are showing a great deviation from this by exhibiting rising concerns about privacy hacking, security breaches, individual's data manipulation, social media engineering issues and new ways of cyber-attacks (Radomirovic). Some attackers are using other techniques like Trojans, backdoor and viruses to access and steal personal information and even make unauthorized dissemination, identity theft and imposters of the same in social media platforms.

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IoT erodes privacy in many ways. Thus, the evolution of the Internet of Things to cover the entire world and interconnecting almost everything does not only provide or improve people's everyday life, new buildings, and transport systems but also allow ubiquitous data collection and tracking (AF). Therefore, it poses privacy threats. This paper aims to bring out how the world sees the end of privacy with IoT and its future in eroding privacy (Radomirovic).

The power of the Internet of Things in eroding privacy

The evolution of IoT about technologies and its features including the emerging sophisticated ways of interactions with IoT leads to specific privacy threats and security challenges (AF). The threats come in different classifications depending on the source and the target information;

Identification

Identification threat refers to the threat associating a specific identifier, for example, a name and address or any related information about an individual and data about him/her (Benetton). The threat is specific to identity violating context and perhaps help other threats, for example, profiling and tracking of individuals or even a combination of many threats. The identification threat is currently the most common, where information is concentrated in a single place and outside the owner's control (David and Jefferies). As facial databases, for example, Facebook becomes available, the identification data of most people become endangered.

Moreover, the availability of wireless connections between devices increases the possibility for identification of those devices through fingerprinting (Presser). Again, the Radio Frequency Identification(RFID) and speech recognition software available in most mobile devices can be easily used to identify people without their knowledge. Speech recognition is evolving to allow interaction between IoT systems and thus aiding cloud computing in data processing; this will greatly improve the attack vector, privacy risks and security (Allan). RFID has also posed a great challenge to identity protection which can easily break data anonymity using auxiliary data (Evans). Attempts to manage privacy issues are underway, but approaches from RFID privacy management are the most promising. However, the same approaches fail to account for the diverse data sources available on the Internet of Things, for example; camera images and speech recognition samples (Benetton). Thus, the privacy management to prevent identification threat is failing in many ways.

Localization and Tracking

It is a threat of acquiring and recording a person's location in time and space. Tracking is dependent on identification of some kind to provide the continuous location of a device or an individual (Benetton). Today tracking is possible through; Global Positioning System(GPS), internet traffics and mobile phone location (Benetton). Possible threats from this are GPS stalking, personal information and generally being watched by unauthorized personnel. Even though localization and tracking remains an important tool in the IoT word, most people find it a violation not to be in control of your location information (Evans).

Profiling

Profiling is a threat of compiling information collected from different people to infer interests by correlation of the same data (Etzioni). Profiling is mostly used in e-commerce for recommender systems, advertisements, and newsletters. The information acquired in e-commerce from profiling is used for price discrimination, unauthorized advertisements, social media blackmailing and probably erroneous decisions (Radomirovic). Privacy is also violated by selling other people's profiles by many data markets. The existence of identification threat and the localization and tracking threat accelerates the profiling threat and the possibility of data marketing (Evans). Some means of preventing profiling threat are; personalization, anonymization and data encryption. But still, IoT is highly dependent on data collection from its users for its growth and development thus leading to a big challenge in trying to balance the interests of both the business and its users' privacy consideration.

Privacy-Violating Interaction and Presentation

This threat refers to delivering private information through public media and thus getting accessed by unwanted individuals (Etzioni). Most IoT systems, for example, smart retail and healthcare systems, need heavy interaction with its users, information is provided by the user through such systems, and also the user receives personal information by the same. However, most interactions between users and these systems are public leading to an information leak to the unwanted hands (Presser). This thus becomes a threat to personal privacy. This threat has not developed much because such systems are rarely used but aimed at being expanded in the future.

Who is Invading our Privacy

Personal information is being collected, organized, sold and purchased in data markets. Peoples concerns about losing control over their data have been constantly witnessed. Probably everyone is not immune to information grab by their governments, hackers and even the corporations/companies they are working for or using their products. This has at some point happened to everyone using the internet, television subscriptions and even credit cards. Thus making it a reality that cannot be avoided (Etzioni). Government, hackers, and Companies can use eminent domains to get access to personal information from citizens. Most corporations are stilling personal information from their users; for example, the mailing corporations have access to many information that many users can't imagine (Etzioni). Everything you talk of, send and receive in emails can be accessed by your provider. Alarms, reminders, and timing applications have access to everything you give them, for example, you ask the application to remind you about a personal meeting, menstrual cycles for ladies, etc. and they keep the records (Presser). Some companies are developing some applications or software which keeps every track of what you do in your device even if you didn't allow access (Etzioni). They reinstall cookies when you delete them, for example, applications asking you to install to help know where your wife/husband is hanging around.

Future of Privacy with IoT

The current world demands some of our privacy information use the internet correctly. Social media networks require our personal information before commencing our life with it and even demand access to our GPS location (Radomirovic). The way corporations handle our data does not concern many, and most people complain about stolen information frequently, but still, people are still giving out their personal information or else they cease using the company services. The erosion of privacy by IoT is expected to increase by far in the future (David and Jefferies);

IoT is expected to put the whole of people's lives online. The evolution of IoT is likely to increase the non-computer smart devices accessing the cloud services via the internet. Most machines are likely to be online and will be controlled remotely, for example, washing machines. There will only be a need for an app to get access to almost everything at home (David and Jefferies). These devices will be smart ones, and smart things depend on information transfer to service providers. The information sent to service providers increases privacy risks and high chances of security breaches (Presser). The data collected by some companies, for example, Facebook has created big databases, and the rate at which it is growing is very high such that around 2.5 billion GB of data are acquired daily (Allan). Majority of these data are from the company users and so have everything about what the users do online. If this is the growing rate then we can only imagine about the future, they will possess our whole life.

Endangered privacy

Contextual Privacy

This type of privacy protects people against unexpected/ unwanted intimacy. Most people prefer to show two different personas when at home and in the workplace. They prefer to choose how to speak to different people and the image to show them (Allan). The increasing data mining rate may increase the threats to this type of privacy. The protected information here is, for example, the relationship status, children, religion, etc. This information may get accessed by Facebook friends, followers and even workmates (Allan). Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and even Live Journal are facing this type of privacy by trying to accommodate everyone. Google+ is one of the social networks trying to provide a solution for this by creating "circles" (David and Jefferies). It can be prevented by removing some policies like the real name policy in some social networks thus giving users a chance to use fake names to hide their identity. And watching what to display in social networks might be another alternative.

Personal Privacy

This prevents intrusion to personal life and information. This is the only privacy giving us a right to be ourselves. IoT is posing a great danger to this privacy by coming up with devices that can easily get your location and get to access the activities you are likely doing at that moment (Allan). This privacy if breached might lead to low self-esteem, depression and even anxiety. An attempt to protect it was made by judge Thomas Cooley and Louis Brandie (The Economist). It was championed by Brandie to make it a right. The privacy is still under constant attacks by telemarketers and governments which calls for a better fight to make it a universal right and remove its editing rights.Defensive Privacy

It protects against sudden information theft leading to financial loss. The loss might result from conmen, blackmailers, identity thieves, etc. This type of privacy is important because losses can be damaging to someone's life, especially when the loss is sudden...