Internet of Things and Privacy

RUNNING HEAD: Internet of Things and Privacy
INTERNET OF THINGS AND PRIVACY
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Internet of Things 2
The Internet of Things or the IoT is a collection of devices or objects that are
interconnected with the help of the internet. The devices that are being used in IoT could be
anything; from a device that monitors the heart rate of an individual to a common electronic
gadget at your home. Each of the objects that are connected to the network of an IoT platform
has an IP address and has the capability to collect data and information without any manual
intervention (Happiestminds, 2018). There is an underlying embedded technology in these IoT
devices that help them to make logical decisions. The major application of IoT is that it could be
used to inspect, analyze and comprehend a situation without using any assistance from humans.
One of the major specialties of IoT is that it could be used to connect devices that are on
different platforms (McClelland 2017). The advantage of using such a technology to connect
devices is that it gives a unique identity to the devices to be controlled digitally. The
interconnectivity of these devices helps in capturing data from more sources for improved
security. One of the major consumers of IoT is large business organizations that use the IoT
technology to make better decisions in their everyday transactions, with the help of transactional
data. With the effective use of IoT platforms, business concerns would be able to reduce their
expenditure by enabling more comprehensive asset utilization. One of the particular features of
IoT is that the devices connected through IoT could be tracked better with the help of sensors
(Norton 2018)). These devices are then used to make better decisions by using data and
analytics. With the simultaneous expansion of data and devices, interconnectivity of devices is
becoming more significant. This capability of interconnecting devices could be used to create a
better business process that is more intelligent.
Though IoT has so many advantages, there have been growing discussions about the way
these devices pry into our homes and personal space (He et.al, 2014). Devices that we use in our

Internet of Things 3
everyday lives like smartphones contain a lot of private data like the location where we live.
Personal information like phone contacts and photos are also at risk in smart devices. Each photo
or page that is being shared, commented or liked in apps like Facebook is being monitored for
future use (Press 2017). There have also been unconfirmed reports that the microphone remains
on while scrolling pages, and listens to each conversation that is being made by an user, once the
app is active on your smartphone.
One of the major causes of concern for IoT as a technology is that most of the devices
connected to an IoT platform could be tracked by attackers. Connecting smart devices like
medical equipment could be thus considered as highly risky and prone to security breaches. As
devices are interconnected in an IoT platform, if one of the connected devices are hacked, it
could give a foothold for the attacker to do further attacks and breach the security (Patton et.al,
2014). One of the major uses of IoT devices is that they can have access to private data to
monitor daily activities and have interactions with the outside world. The risks of these
capabilities reaching the hands of attackers cannot be undermined, as it could result in
catastrophic outcomes.
There is no limit to the number of devices that could be connected to an IoT platform.
Each of the objects that are connected to the network has an IP address and has the capability to
collect data and information without any manual intervention. There is an underlying embedded
technology in these IoT devices that help them to make logical decisions. The major application
of IoT is that it could be used to inspect, analyze and comprehend a situation without using any
assistance from humans. The IoT technology could be scaled up to any extent for connecting
devices across any platforms (Akkaya et.al, 2015). One of the common features of IoT is that it
gives a unique identity to each of the devices that are being interconnected, to be controlled