This article will examine the main issues with individual IoT devices, the idea driving the creation of the IoT, and present the case for why you should be skeptical of any “smart device.”
Alexa, what is the Internet of Things?
The term IoT refers to all things (or even animals or people) that can be hooked up with a chip that lets them be connected to the Internet, share data over a network, and communicate with each other.
The combination of these devices makes it possible for them to gather information, analyze it, and perform specific tasks. For example, your house alarm system could connect to a mobile app that lets you arm or disarm the alarm, even from a distance.
However, the emphasis placed on ease of use and functionality means that other key aspects, like privacy and security, are often secondary to convenience for the people making these devices.
The term IoT refers to all things that can be hooked up with a chip that lets them be connected to the Internet, share data over a network, and communicate with each other
and be monetised by corporations and be surveilled by governments and be broken into by hackers (state or otherwise).
FTFY.
Yep, security and privacy will be more important than ever. Open, verifiable platforms will be more important than ever.
Up to you to choose. Let’s take sonoff cheap iot pieces - you have a choice of being comfy using out-of-the-box functionality (which gathers your data in chinese cloud) or you can invest some additional effort to reflash it with open-firmware alternatives and hook it up to your private iot infra (eg opensource home automation).
IoT is now in the same rudimentary state as internet was in 90’s, however the difference is there’s now whole data collection and processing infrastructure behind which abuses immature state of the IoT. So connected to the internet is scarcely an option, share data over a network - yes, over private, protected and isolated network.