Internet of Things, the term coined by Kevin Ashton, is gaining prominence in the international technology lexicon. The term refers to everyday objects or devices that are connected to the Internet and communicate with each other. It is the interconnection of uniquely identifiable computing devices within the Internet infrastructure. Internet of Things describe a system where physical things are connected to Internet through ubiquitous sensors. The thing could be anything from a watch to medical instruments to any household devices and these only need to have certain qualities in order to be a part of the Internet of Things.
With myriad of benefits of IoT, there are few areas that need to be looked upon in order to address these issues and challenges related to the technology. Let us discuss these issues in detail.
Security – Attributes of IoT implementations offer different security challenges and addressing this challenge is of utmost priority so that IoT devices and services are protected from vulnerabilities, especially with the technology becoming pervasive and integrated in to our daily lives. With IoT devices interconnected, every poorly secured device will potentially affect the security and resilience of the internet globally. Developers and users of IoT devices and systems share common responsibilities to ensure that these devices do not pose any potential harm to the users and to the Internet.
Privacy – The potential of Internet of Things depends on strategies that respect individual privacy choices among several expectations. The security concern might prevent users from adopting the Internet of Things. It means that respects for user privacy are vital to ensure trust and confidence of the users in the Internet and the connected devices. The debate on privacy issues with IoT has increased due to several implementations that have change the way, personal data is collected, analyzed, used and protected. In order to address this issue, strategies need to be developed that respect individual privacy while encouraging innovation in new technology.
Legal, Regulatory and Rights – With the increase use of IoT devices, several regulatory and legal questions will be raised and the existing legal issues will be increased. The rapid change in the IoT technology will outpace the ability of the legal and regulatory structures to adapt. Cross-border data flow is a vital issue, which occur when IOT devices collect data about people in one jurisdiction and transfer it to another jurisdiction having different data protection laws. Even the data collected by the device is sometimes susceptible to misuse that might cause discriminatory outcomes for some users.
Emerging Economy and development issues – The Internet of Things show great promise for economic and social benefits for emerging and developing economies. Areas such as healthcare, industrialization, environmental management, water quality and use along with agriculture are expected to greatly benefit due to IoT. In order to benefit in the right sense the less developed regions need to address issues like infrastructure readiness, technical skill requirements, investment incentives and policy resources so that they meet the unique needs and challenges of IoT.
The Internet of Things is still in its nascent stage and promises to offer revolutionary smart world due to the intertwined relationships between objects, environment and people. Thus, developers need to address issues and challenges associated with the IoT so that its actual benefit can be rightly tapped by the individuals, society and the economy. The need of the hour is to maximize the benefit while minimizing the risks and it cannot be found only by debating its possible benefits over its perils. Rather all the stakeholders need to engage communicate and collaborate to plot the most effective ways forward.
