IoT Offers Benefits, 'Dangers' Like Privacy Erosion, Says Mozilla Foundation Head

The IoT provides many benefits, but there are "existential dangers" such as erosion of privacy, wrote Mozilla Foundation Executive Director Mark Surman in a Thursday blog post. "Legions of connected microphones and cameras unknowingly track our movements and conversations," he wrote. "Governments surveil citizens en masse, and profit-minded businesses horde personal data. IoT also means more vulnerabilities, from the recent Dyn attack (see 1610210056) to the hacking of elections" (see 1612290040). Surman said there's "an opportunity to head off future dangers proactively" and "IoT will be the first big battle of 2017." He co-wrote a paper, issued in October by the NetGain Partnership, a coalition of philanthropic organizations, including the Ford, Knight, MacArthur and Open Society foundations and Mozilla. The paper outlines six principles, from an open and free internet to digital security. The partnership will issue several papers and host discussions over the next year on how it can address IoT challenges.