Privacy in the Internet of Things era
Schorer, Damien (2016)
Schorer, Damien
Haaga-Helia ammattikorkeakoulu
2016
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201605239169
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201605239169
Tiivistelmä
The thesis has combined two topical areas of research. On one side, there is the Internet of Things. It is a growing market shifting to the consumer side with a range of products going from smart appliances to health tracking systems. On the other side, there is privacy, a highly mediatised subject especially after a number of revelations over the past few years on how governments may be spying on citizens.
The purpose of this research is to assess how personal information is going to be protected, or not, in this Internet of Things revolution. The goal of this thesis is to create an overview of the privacy landscape of the IoT and in order to do that the report focuses on the relevant policies of technology companies and their IoT working groups.
The research is subdivided into two different parts, one with a theoretical long-term approach and another more factual. The first aspect of the research is based on the multitude of groups, consortia and alliances that are working to facilitate the rise of the Internet of Things. These groups are creating frameworks and standards to help different smart devices to communicate with each other. The latter aspect of the research is based on the devices available for consumers and whether they are advanced in protecting data.
After an analysis of the official documentation of the different groups, the results of the research allow to define three categories of market players. The first category companies who are not mentioning privacy at all in their work. The second is the companies that are taking it into account and explain how they manage it but do not take exceptional measures to prevent data breach. Finally, the third group is composed of companies which are really taking privacy into accounts in their certification program, standard or products and services. The study reveals that even with security protocols and certification company products can still be hacked and that personal data is never entirely secured when digitalised and uploaded on the Internet.
Finally, this thesis ends with ideas for further development. As the Internet of Things is a rapidly moving trend, it could be noteworthy to follow how the standards and frameworks will evolve. The other aspect of the subject - the way privacy is - viewed is also changing rapidly and could modify, for the better or the worst, its online pendant.
The purpose of this research is to assess how personal information is going to be protected, or not, in this Internet of Things revolution. The goal of this thesis is to create an overview of the privacy landscape of the IoT and in order to do that the report focuses on the relevant policies of technology companies and their IoT working groups.
The research is subdivided into two different parts, one with a theoretical long-term approach and another more factual. The first aspect of the research is based on the multitude of groups, consortia and alliances that are working to facilitate the rise of the Internet of Things. These groups are creating frameworks and standards to help different smart devices to communicate with each other. The latter aspect of the research is based on the devices available for consumers and whether they are advanced in protecting data.
After an analysis of the official documentation of the different groups, the results of the research allow to define three categories of market players. The first category companies who are not mentioning privacy at all in their work. The second is the companies that are taking it into account and explain how they manage it but do not take exceptional measures to prevent data breach. Finally, the third group is composed of companies which are really taking privacy into accounts in their certification program, standard or products and services. The study reveals that even with security protocols and certification company products can still be hacked and that personal data is never entirely secured when digitalised and uploaded on the Internet.
Finally, this thesis ends with ideas for further development. As the Internet of Things is a rapidly moving trend, it could be noteworthy to follow how the standards and frameworks will evolve. The other aspect of the subject - the way privacy is - viewed is also changing rapidly and could modify, for the better or the worst, its online pendant.