Objects connected to the network seek to make people's lives easier. Doubts arise around how far they can go to violate people's privacy and information security.
By Richard Santa
Have you imagined that your shoes can indicate to social networks the place where you are, where you walk, or that when you go back home after work you can from your cell phone give the order to the stove to turn on and off when the pot and its sensors tell you to? Although they seem like ideas brought from a fictional movie, they are just two examples of where we are going with the Internet of Things (IoT). And it will happen faster than you imagine.
Having everything connected to the internet seems the trend of the main technology manufacturers. A proof of them is the last version of the CES consumer electronics fair, held in Las Vegas the first week of January, in which a high percentage of the novelties and launches had to do with what has been called the "internet of things", "internet of everything" or "connected things".
According to the data of the fair, more than 900 exhibitors showed innovations that take advantage of the power of the network to connect everyday devices, in order to provide greater control and management of the day to day of people and organizations.
There are several companies that are marking this development. One of them is Samsung, which with its vision on the subject indicates what we can expect. It announced that by 2017 90% of its products will be connected and with the goal of reaching 100% by 2020. And in the same sense is Cisco, which projects by 2020 the existence of 17 billion connected objects and that is why it has a department dedicated to research and development in the field.
But Cisco's figures might sound conservative, compared to others like Gartner, which expects that by the same year there will be approximately 26 billion connected devices, while Abi Research, estimates its expectations at 30 billion devices. And there may be many more when the IPv6 protocol begins, which will facilitate this connection.
In this fast-paced race to develop connected objects, it is not yet clear where you want to go and its consequences. But what is clear is that everyone wants to take advantage of the trend.
Opportunities for all
Federico Bausone, CEO of GME Electronics de México, has dedicated his professional life to technology and in recent years has had a special interest in the AV/IT relationship and the Internet of Things. He commented that since the 80s there has been talk of connected objects, but only until now is their progress being seen and will continue to grow rapidly.
Undoubtedly, this growth will positively affect home automation, which has developed thanks to being able to control objects remotely that are connected to the network. Until today, the general functions of home and corporate automation facilitate the control of lighting, access and security in general, as well as audio and video systems.
As objects are connected to the network, they are integrated into the automation of homes and businesses. Little by little other "toys" have been added, such as having online the list of existing products in the fridge to know what is needed and better known objects such as watch or glasses called smart.
And although home automation is highly benefited, it is not the only segment that will be able to take advantage of this trend. Federico Bausone said that "many things will be connected, objects that we would not imagine could be on the network, and that is why all sectors will benefit. Manufacturers in the AV industry, electronics and in general all fields, are looking for what to do with the Internet of Things, how to get the most out of it."
Security and privacy
The theft of information about bank cards used in a well-known chain store in the United States, of the information of users of Apple and Google systems, are some well-known news in recent months that have generated great impact by the number of people affected and serve as an example to address one of the main concerns of the Internet of Things: how to ensure information security.
Security goes from something simple as having the objects connected, the user can access the information and control them from their mobile device, call it smartphone, tablet or even the computer. But what if the user loses their device or gets into the wrong hands of that information? And, of course, there is the large-scale violation of systems with the information of millions of people, such as those mentioned above.
Federico Bausone explained that the network breach exists today and is a concern of manufacturers. That is why security and privacy will play a fundamental role in the development of connected products. "The relationship between security and privacy is a concern that will mark the development of security systems and protocols that will be specialized along with development, but there will always be a risk present."
In addition to security, there is also an issue that concerns and goes beyond technology, and that is how having all objects connected can affect the privacy of people, because these objects are able to provide information about what each user does and their particular preferences.
In this regard, many questions remain in the air, who will have access to that information? For what purpose will the information be used? How will users be able to protect their privacy? These are some questions that our guest expert qualifies as one of the most important and do not have a clear answer yet. "The intimacy of people with the Internet of Things is another issue that is pending definition by manufacturers. If a person wants to avoid the risks of their information being breached or used, they have the option not to use connected objects, but they should also be guaranteed a way to protect this information and that is in development."
And it is not only being investigated and developed how to connect objects, but also how to take advantage of this information. One example is that the company Adobe has just launched the innovations made to its Marketing Cloud system, which allows brands to provide highly personalized experiences to physical spaces, such as retail stores, hotel rooms, vending machines and devices for the Internet of Things.
In one of the sections of the service description, Adobe states that "The new IoT SDK allows brands to measure and analyze consumer engagement on any of those devices. Marketing data is now used in concert with data collected by other departments such as sales and customer service, creating a richer view of the customer." It is worth clarifying that this Adobe system is mentioned as an example of what can happen to the information of the connected objects.
Finally, Federico Bausone added that the phenomenon of the Internet of Things is happening all over the world, many companies are researching the subject, including in Latin America. He stressed that in the region the issue of connectivity will be key, as 4G networks increase there will be more possibilities for these equipment. "I think that for Latin America and the world in general, moments of a lot of technological knowledge are going to come."
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