Will the internet of things finally kill privacy?

Why the FTC's new report doesn't go far enough

By Hamza Shaban - The Verge, Feb. 11, 2015 – 

In the internet of things, the Federal Trade Commission sees the possibility of flourishing new markets. But it also sees a prologue to Black Mirror: in a new report that probes the privacy implications of connected devices, the commission surveys a landscape of possible dystopian futures. Get ready for invasive marketing, unending consumer surveillance, invisible nudging, and new potential for government spying and novel forms of hacking.

The report seeks to identify the dangers to consumers presented by the internet of things. How might information gleaned from a car GPS, fitness tracker or smart refrigerator lead to negative effects on your creditworthiness, employability, or insurance premiums? As a prelude to the development of best practices, and perhaps new legislation, the FTC aims to establish industry standards for data gathering and use.

While the FTC does not call for a law specific to networked devices, it does invite Congress to pass broad data-security legislation that would shield consumers, at least in part, from the headline-screeching data breaches like those that recently afflicted Sony, Target, and Home Depot. And it preaches a gospel of data minimization: companies ought to keep as little data as needed, dispose of it when it's no longer required, and strip identifying information out of it when possible.

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