The Internet of Things – Internet Privacy

The Internet of things is the fastest growing technology, which will eventually play a pivotal role in every sector of business and civil society.
Definition of the Internet of things
The internet of things (IoT) describes physical devices being connected to the internet and being able to identify themselves to other devices and people. This means connecting any device with an on and off switch to the Internet and to each other with the necessary software interface. This includes everything from traffic lights, health monitoring devices, smartphones, washing machines, stoves, car engines, alarms and almost anything else you can think of. The Internet of things is a network of connected \”things\” between humans-humans, humans-devices, and devices-devices. Any device with internet capability that can be monitored and controlled from a remote location is an Internet of thing\’s device.

Benefits of the internet of things
Smart Homes – IoT devices are a part of the larger concept of home automation, which include controlling lighting, heating and air conditioning, media and security systems. The long-term benefits are energy savings by automatically ensuring lights and electronics are turned off when not needed. It also allows you to monitor these things from anywhere in the world.
Automation and Control in Industry – When machinery is connected and controlled digitally and centrally wirelessly via automation enable the machinery to communicate with other machinery, which in turn leads to faster and better output without human intervention. Productivity is increased and costs are decreased in terms of having to pay people salaries and benefits.
Connecting Modes of Transportation – When you interlink the industries such as aviation, maritime, rail and roadways can lead to improved safety, lower cost, make transportations more secure and enable people to make smart choices when travelling. This allows one to monitor and determine the availability of things in the real time thus saving money and time. It also allows authorities controlling these modes of transport to take appropriate alternative measures in the case of a disruptions or catastrophe.
Connecting People – Conference Calling is connecting people at work over huge distances saving money and time. Patients can be monitored inside and outside hospital and information from these patients can be sent to doctors to better their treatment or dosage of medication based on the data received.
Automotive – Creating smart cars that help drivers prevent accidents, predict maintenance breakdowns and find parking. In the near future, we will have self-driving cars that are able to drive on its own without any human intervention.
The Security Challenges and Recommendations
As consumers, we faced with so many choices when we buy the Internet of things devices. Firstly, not knowing whether one device is compatible with another as there is currently no universal coding language or protocol. It is an opportunity for service providers to collaborate with one another in developing a new communication standard that all devices can use allowing them to communicate with each other irrespective of the brand.
Despite all the benefits of the Internet of things, it also raises some privacy concerns. Hacking becomes a realistic threat because most aspects of our everyday lives will be digitally controlled which means this data is stored somewhere. This data contains a wealth of private information, if in the wrong hands; can be catastrophic, as it could, compromises ones privacy. Mobile devices are easily lost or stolen; data stored on these devices are vulnerable to such risks. Service providers need to focus more on cyber security to secure privacy and safety of this data. Public need to be educated more on how to protect information safely.
Quality and Control of life – Our lives will be handled by technology and we will become dependent on it. The younger generation is already addicted to technology for every little thing and we are going towards a lazy environment. Most kids don’t know how to do basic mathematics without a calculator.
Organisations faces possible security risks to information assets that could be detrimental to their business. Once again, mobile devices are easily lost or stolen; servers can be hacked and data stored on these devices are vulnerable to theft. It is therefore imperative for businesses to have the right security solution, so that they can configure their employees’ mobile device that could put their confidential information at risk. This will help business to stay on top of their employees’ activities without compromising privacy and security; some of the key functionality includes tracking call logs and messages of a suspicious nature, and remotely configuring settings like deleting or blocking certain mobile applications that are potential threats.
The Automation of the Internet of things will have a devastating impact on employment prospect of less educated workers. People like security guards, housekeepers/maids, laundry service personnel and workers in factories may lose their jobs. We as a society need to empower more people in understanding the Internet of things and affect it will have on them if they do not multi-skill and make themselves accessible to the job market knowing the impact the Internet of things is having on job security.
Conclusion
As much as the Internet of things has had an enormous, impact on all sectors of life all over the world and has helped us to improve both our personal and professional life, we need to acquire more knowledge about the Internet of things. We need to ensure we safeguard our privacy, personal as well as industrial data and not make ourselves slaves to the Internet of things but rather use it as a tool to enhance our daily lives.