7. IoT

For this assignment I have to find the answer to 5 questions about Internet of Things from a list that was provided. Following are my answers to the 5 questions that I found most relevant or interesting.

Perhaps first I should start with explaining what Internet of Things (IoT) is before I start answering some of the questions. Internet of Things basically connects everything with one another through internet access to provide a more safe and easier life. So basically, connecting everything with one another so everything can work together.

Why do we need IoT?
First of all, IoT just makes us life a whole lot easier. You can link everything together in such a way that everything becomes accessible in one click.
Some examples:
[1]Smart home, you can link everything in your house together, so you can regulate it from one place.
Wearables: apple watch and iPhone, you can link these two together and see how much you've run and worked out, you can also see your heartbeat and such.
Smart farming: Farmers can use IoT to manage and control their irrigation.
Of course, the question remains; What about privacy? Will there ever be a line IoT can't cross? Is everything regulated properly or are there people/companies misusing the information they get?

Who is going to benefit from IoT?
[2]As I explained during my first question, this can literally be everyone from 'normal' people (think of Smart home, being able to control everything in your house) to runners (see your heartbeat and calories burned) and even doctors who will be able to assess patients better than they were before, all thanks to IoT.

What effect will IoT have on our daily lives?
[3]It definitely makes it way easier than before, being able to control everything from one place without having to run through the entire house to find something is just so much easier. Also, having alarm clocks paired with traffic apps so you know when to leave is just an amazing feature in my opinion.
If you use IoT right you can also see a reduction in your costs. Being able to integrate light, heat and air conditioning which reacts to you can save you a lot of money. Also, being able to see when something expires in your fridge will help a great deal with waste reduction.
Being able to track your health with certain wearables has a huge impact on our health care. Being able to see whether you are working out all right or not is just really great.
In my opinion, IoT will have a huge impact on our daily lives and routines in the future. Everything will become more synchronised and more stream lined.

What's the biggest risk associated to IoT?
There are a lot of risks involved with using IoT.
[4]The biggest one is probably your privacy. How well are we protected? How well is our data protected from the outside world? What does the company that receives our data do with it? Do they lend it outside companies? Do they keep it to themselves? Won't any of this data fall into the wrong hands? All these questions are very important when talking about IoT and our privacy.
Of course, there are a lot more problems than just our privacy. Attacks on data and cloud attacks also form a huge problem.

What shouldn't be connected and why?
[5]Toys for kids should not be connected by IoT because they can be hacked and used in a wrong way against the children. Las year, parents were told to destroy their My Friend Gayla smart doll because some of them were hacked and used to speak to the kids. This is clearly not good for IoT.
Also, what about baby monitors then? If those dolls can be hacked that easy, what stops those hackers from hacking monitors and being able to see and hear babies.
[6]About a couple months ago someone died because of a self-driving uber. Later, it was found out that it actually was the fault of the person that deceased. But how can it really be her fault? In my opinion, you can not blame her for it. Anything can happen, we are humans so very unpredictable, not everything can be foreseen. Of course, self-driving cars would be a great innovation for society, everything would run smoother, no traffic, no waiting periods...
In my opinion, everything with a camera in it should not be connected because then hackers can actually see what goes on inside the house, car... This might lead to potential theft because no one is at home. But then again, everything can be hacked so is IoT really that safe?

[1] Baby, R. (2017, August 28). Quora. Retrieved from Why do we need IoT (Internet of things)? Is it necessary when our life is fine without it? Why?: https://www.quora.com/Why-do-we-need-IoT-Internet-of-things-Is-it-necessary-when-our-life-is-fine-without-it-Why

[2] Baby, R. (2017, August 28). Quora. Retrieved from Why do we need IoT (Internet of things)? Is it necessary when our life is fine without it? Why?: https://www.quora.com/Why-do-we-need-IoT-Internet-of-things-Is-it-necessary-when-our-life-is-fine-without-it-Why

[3] ics. (n.d.). Retrieved from 5 ways the Internet of Things will affect your daily life: https://www.ics.ie/news/view/1729

[4] Santos-Caballero, A. (n.d.). researchgate. Retrieved from What's the biggest risk associated with the Internet of Things?: https://www.researchgate.net/post/Whats_the_biggest_risk_associated_with_the_Internet_of_Things

[5] medium. (2017, September 8). Retrieved from IoT fails: Should everything be connected to the internet?: https://medium.com/threat-intel/internet-of-things-fails-f214562b8311

[6] Roe, D. (2018, February 7). cms wire. Retrieved from 7 Big Problems with the Internet of Things: https://www.cmswire.com/cms/internet-of-things/7-big-problems-with-the-internet-of-things-024571.php

Conclusion:

I believe that IoT is definitely future-worthy. Just the idea of everything becoming more stream lined and efficient sounds exciting. I do have my doubts about privacy and hacking of certain things. This is something that needs to be extremely taken care of. If IoT will be more and more implemented in my daily life (more than it already is) I do hope the manufacturers know what they are doing.

Reflection:

I definitely learned some great new things about IoT. New products than can be linked such as your fridge that can show when something is almost expired or when something is almost empty. Now that I know all this, I am also somewhat concerned about my privacy and how to stop people and companies from tracking everything I do. I will definitely do some research on this because I don't want to become 'known' to every company I have bought something from.

References:

Baby, R. (2017, August 28). Quora. Retrieved from Why do we need IoT (Internet of things)? Is it necessary when our life is fine without it? Why?: https://www.quora.com/Why-do-we-need-IoT-Internet-of-things-Is-it-necessary-when-our-life-is-fine-without-it-Why

E-skills. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://arteveldehogeschool.be/e-skills/websites.html

ics. (n.d.). Retrieved from 5 ways the Internet of Things will affect your daily life: https://www.ics.ie/news/view/1729

Lone star. (n.d.). Retrieved from Who benefits: https://lone-star.com/who-benefits/

Mahto, J. (2015, November 18). LinkedIn. Retrieved from Why we need IoT (Internet of Things)???: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-we-need-iot-internet-things-jugeshwar-mahto/

Manoharan, V. (n.d.). Prodapt. Retrieved from WHAT IS IOT ? WHY DO WE NEED IT? SIGNIFICANCE & IMPACT ON MODERN LIFE?: https://www.prodapt.com/what-is-iot-why-do-we-need-it-significance-impact-on-modern-life/

medium. (2017, September 8). Retrieved from IoT fails: Should everything be connected to the internet?: https://medium.com/threat-intel/internet-of-things-fails-f214562b8311

Roe, D. (2018, February 7). cms wire. Retrieved from 7 Big Problems with the Internet of Things: https://www.cmswire.com/cms/internet-of-things/7-big-problems-with-the-internet-of-things-024571.php

Santos-Caballero, A. (n.d.). researchgate. Retrieved from What's the biggest risk associated with the Internet of Things?: https://www.researchgate.net/post/Whats_the_biggest_risk_associated_with_the_Internet_of_Things