Legal Risks in the Internet of Things

The adoption of Internet of Things (IoT) marks the need to meet several legal challenges. There are over 50 billion devices to be connected to the net and this is likely to trigger legal risks. Communication channels are immeasurably large. Traffic jams are likely. Information gathering under the IoT has to be mandated or self regulated so that the consumer is protected. The data that is collected could be a source of litigation. Devices operate on separate platforms. Manufactured by various producers, marketed by different vendors implies that IoT has to deal with a host of clients and a whole myriad of issues.

Any interaction point has the potential for a legal validity eruption point.

Issues that need to be addressed

1. IoT platforms would be global, but different jurisdictions would have different IoT regulations. There would be varying legal prescriptions for cloud, data privacy and other technologies.
2. Integration standards have to be harmonized.
3. Prescribing safety norms for the software industry.
4. Setting standard terms for services' provision like cloud computing.
5. International collaboration and public-private partnerships issues. Breach of contracts across jurisdictions.
6. Access to bandwidth and connection speeds.
7. Net neutrality (i.e. the principle that Internet Service Providers and governments should treat all data on the internet equally)
8. The right to offer tiered services.
9. Ensuring transparency of traffic rights.
10. Liability Issues  as there is not just man to machines (m2m) but machines to machines(M2M).
11. Operational risk exposures and issues.
12. Handling machine defects and its fallout.
13. Dealing with supply chain issues both locally and across borders.
14. Limiting liability for personal injury or death caused by negligence by device failures.
15. Demarcating ownership issues. Data ownership and device ownership. Cutting across the labyrinthine maze of ownerships.
16. Automated contracts emerging out of on line transactions.  
17. The machine to machine (M2M) order placement issues.
18. User profiling in micro-order placement. Limits to privacy.  
19. Errors in automatic machine orders.
20. Errors in sensor technology and consequential errors in orders.
21. Offer and acceptance under the contract law.  
22. Distance Selling laws.
23. Lucidity in seller communications to buyers.
24. Dealing with issues of corporate profitability seeking and the public's interest.
25. Inconsistencies in  regulations for smart devices.
26. Innumerable acts and laws to  balance.
27. Human Risk bringing about Operational Risk. Doctrine of Indoor Management
28. Cyber security
29. Coping with transnational cyber crime
30. Dealing with cyber crime’s effect on intellectual property (IP)
31. Protecting the rights of owners of devices connected to the internet
32. Protection from potential hackers who could use devices which are interconnected to break into home networks
33. Legalizing the IoT solutions.
34. Defining contractual relationships in the new order with so many inter-connected devices which have varied origins/ sources.
35. Data portability, data privacy and data protection principles.
36. Privacy policies and issues.
37. Protecting the plethora of data that can be inventoried and utilized.
38. Data security.
39. Data privacy.  
40. Coping with loss of privacy.
41. Privacy of designs and IP on devices.
42. Accessibility to data issues
43. Profiling  the customer on the basis of data and on-going tapping of private information.
44. Avoiding of probable data security breaches.
45. Re-dressal in the event of security breach from both consumer and corporate angles.
46. Challenging potential misuse of data.  
47. People's personal data being processed by multiple devices.
48. Potential for unauthorized access.
49. Consents from the consumer for data collection
50. Ensuring consumer rights in respect of the data collected.
51. Exercising corporate rights in respect of the data collected.
52. Law of Limitation. 

References:

 Kim Walker, The legal considerations of the internet of things http://www.computerweekly.com/opinion/The-legal-considerations-of-the-internet-of-things

Warwick Ashford, Cybercrime costs business £265bn a year, report reveals http://www.computerweekly.com/news/2240222189/Cybercrime-costs-business-265bn-a-year-report-reveals

There's spam in my fridge!

http://www.taylorwessing.com/download/article_spam_fridge.html

Steve Johnson , Legal Patchwork Rules Internet of Things and its Users, San Jose Mercury News //www.govtech.com/products/Legal-patchwork-rules-Internet-of-Things-and-its-users.html

T.C. Sottek,  The Internet of Things is going to be a legal nightmare, http://www.wassom.com/top-5-legal-issues-internet-things-part-1-data-security-privacy.html#sthash.lxOWlPhw.dpuf

http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/27/7921025/will-self-regulation-be-a-huge-problem-for-privacy-in-the-internet-of

Tom Mighell, The “Internet of Things” in Law Practice , Volume 40 Number 3 http://www.americanbar.org/publications/law_practice_magazine/2014/may-june/web-2-0.html

Top 5 Legal Issues in the Internet of Things, Part 1: Data Security & Privacy - See more at: http://www.wassom.com/top-5-legal-issues-internet-things-part-1-data-security-privacy.html#sthash.lxOWlPhw.dpuf^[1]

 

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 Part of research by the author on the Internet of Things by the author. Author can be contacted on jaynayar@gmail.com.

All copyright vests with the author.