Policy Drafting Exercise: Internet of Things (IoT)

As you have most likely heard, the Internet of Things (IoT) is the next major thing and is ready to invade the home. Appliances and meters are connected to the internet to facilitate monitoring and improve maintenance. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is playing an important role in educating the public on the benefits and security and privacy challenges posed by IoTs and leading the discussion on how to address these challenges. Seehttps://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/reports/federal-trade-commission-staff-report-november-2013-workshop-entitled-internet-things-privacy/150127iotrpt.pdf.

Two recent articles on the subject are:

• http://www.csoonline.com/article/3154852/internet-of-things/can-government-really-fix-the-iot-mess.html
• https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-09-01/your-kitchen-appliances-are-watching-you-security-expert-warns)

For this exercise, imagine that the FTC is looking to you to issue policy to vendors and service providers so as to manage the collection and sharing of information by these home devices. The goal is to minimize the privacy concerns of consumers/customers of IoT devices in their homes. Your Policy is dictating how vendors/service providers of these devices shall care for the privacy of their customers/users.

Here is the complete exercise:

• Part 1 of the paper should describe the future home identifying the types of internet connected devices that you anticipate, the benefits that such connections may offer and the issues and challenges that such connections present.
• Part 2 should provide your recommended policy concerning data collection, sharing, data usage, protection of data collected, etc. Part 2 should also have a Conclusion. In your Conclusion,present what you learned from this exercise and identify specific concerns regarding the Internet of Things (IoT) and the future it portends

The paper will be graded as follows:

Content (Understanding of the topic as well as soundness and completeness of the policy and conclusion presented)

• Description of IoT for home: 10%
• Benefits and challenges of IoT at home: 10%
• Policy on data collection, sharing and limitations: 40%
• Conclusion: 10%
• References and citations: 10%