Cloud, Big Data, the Internet of Things are among the hottest topics that vendors are driving in 2015. In this 5-part series, I highlight five legal developments that are worth tracking.

2. Internet of Things will cause privacy concerns

We are all used to making some form of compromise over access to information about our private lives as the cost of living in modern society. For example, we accept surveillance via proliferated CCTV, analysis of our spending habits via store loyalty cards, or the tracking of our movements and data on our smart phones. The Internet of Things expands this on a grand scale. Gartner forecasts there will be nearly five billion connected devices by the end of this year, and 25bn in 2020.

IoT massively increases the opportunity for hackers to get access to our personal data. This prompted the Chair of the US Federal Trade Commission to air her concerns at CES 2015.

The answer, not surprisingly, is for manufacturers of IoT devices to take data security into account early on and to limit data to that which is actually necessary for the use of the device.

This is not new ground. The European data protection laws have long tried to control the flow of personal data. Data security is all about the steps you take to protect the data.

What is interesting is that this is a prominent figure in the US raising privacy concerns. Expect the US and the EU to toughen their stance on privacy issues, in part because of IoT.

Agree? Don’t agree? Add your comment below.

Part 1: Microsoft vs US.gov

Part 2: Internet of Things will cause privacy concerns

Part 3: Massive data security fines get closer

Part 4: Google Spain case will get greater scrutiny

Part 5: Cloud standards get closer

This post first appeared on The Channel | The Register as Microsoft vs US.gov, Internet of Stuff, Big Data: Some of 2015’s legal cloudy issues 

Image courtesy of vectorolie at FreeDigitalPhotos