How regulation can minimize online risk
This year, the number of web-connected devices around the world is estimated to hit about three for every person living: more than 20 billion gadgets, cars, smart speakers, and more. Already in use are some that help with tasks like driving, life-saving surgery, and reminding us to replace the milk in our fridge, said Fran Berman, a data scientist who studies how technology is increasingly part our daily routines and rewriting the way we live. The Internet of Things, or IoT, as the expanding web-based network of sensors, cameras, smart systems, computing devices, machines, and appliances is known, will yield incredible benefits, while also introducing new problems around privacy, security, safety, and sustainability, said Berman, currently the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study’s Katherine Hampson Bessell Fellow. “It is going to change everything,” she said. “The question becomes: Is the Internet of Things a future utopia, or is it a future dystopia?” It’s...