The Internet of Things is a buzz phrase for digital monitoring.
I am a fan of the IoT with respect to commercial enterprises such as airplane maintenance. But I will not let IoT consumer products into my home.
The problem should be obvious. If I can monitor what my appliances are doing, so can the government. If I can tell them what to do, the government can hear my voice.
This is not a fantasy. It’s here. The details are here. There is more evidence than you have time to read. Read some of it, especially this: CIA Chief: We’ll Spy on You Through Your Dishwasher.
More and more personal and household devices are connecting to the internet, from your television to your car navigation systems to your light switches. CIA Director David Petraeus cannot wait to spy on you through them.
Earlier this month, Petraeus mused about the emergence of an “Internet of Things” — that is, wired devices — at a summit for In-Q-Tel, the CIA’s venture capital firm. “‘Transformational’ is an overused word, but I do believe it properly applies to these technologies,” Petraeus enthused, “particularly to their effect on clandestine tradecraft.”
All those new online devices are a treasure trove of data if you’re a “person of interest” to the spy community. Once upon a time, spies had to place a bug in your chandelier to hear your conversation. With the rise of the “smart home,” you’d be sending tagged, geolocated data that a spy agency can intercept in real time when you use the lighting app on your phone to adjust your living room’s ambiance.
(For the rest of my article, click the link.)
