CES 2015: FTC Head Warns About Data Grabbed By Smart Gadgets

Posted by Soulskill on Wednesday January 7, 2015 @02:40AM from the don't-just-say-it,-regulate-it dept.

mpicpp sends this quote from the BBC: A "deeply personal" picture of every consumer could be grabbed by futuristic smart gadgets, the chair of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has warned. Speaking at CES, Edith Ramirez said a future full of smart gadgets that watch what we do posed a threat to privacy. The collated data could create a false impression if given to employers, universities or companies, she said. Ms Ramirez urged tech firms to make sure gadgets gathered the minimum data needed to fulfill their function (PDF). The internet of things (IoT), which will populate homes, cars and bodies with devices that use sophisticated sensors to monitor people, could easily build up a "deeply personal and startlingly complete picture" of a person's lifestyle, said Ms Ramirez."

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Start with smartphone apps... by PrimaryConsult · 2015-01-07 03:00 · Score: 5, Insightful

I really don't understand why an ereader app needs to check phone call status, read text messages or activate the camera, but whatever, it's free!
In all seriousness before we worry about future smart gadgets, let's focus on the ones we already have. Android needs the functionality of "permissions denied" or similar apps built into the OS. Smart TVs should not be allowed to "anonymously" send information like the filenames of network files viewed on the tv...