Mattel scrapping an artificial intelligence-enabled "Aristotle" baby monitor, which drew privacy concerns from lawmakers (see 1709290034), was praised by children's advocacy groups. In a Thursday news release, the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and The Story of Stuff Project had sent a 20,000-plus signature petition to the company. "The backlash against Aristotle should send a strong message to other toymakers and tech companies," said CCFC Executive Director Josh Golin. Mattel confirmed the decision Thursday in an email, saying after Chief Technology Officer Sven Gerjets joined in July, he extensively reviewed Aristotle and "decided that it did not fully align with Mattel’s new technology strategy," canceling plans.
State IT chiefs see IoT, artificial intelligence and machine learning having the biggest impact among emerging IT areas in the next three to five years, said a 2017 survey released Tuesday by the National Association of State Chief Information Officers. While 69 percent of state CIOs are discussing only networked state devices, states with a road map increased to 15 percent in 2017 from 4 percent last year. Emerging networked devices are in 21 percent of state IT strategic plans, up from 9 percent. Funding is a major concern for about half of CIOs, it said. "Some states struggle with a mechanism to recover costs and balance that model with appropriations for enterprise-wide services like cybersecurity." Digital government is an enterprise priority for all state CIOs. Barriers are “agency readiness, budget, security/identity management and cross-boundary collaboration,” NASCIO found.
Mattel's new artificial intelligence-enabled baby monitor raised privacy issues from Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, and Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., in a Thursday letter to CEO Margaret Georgiadis. The device, called Aristotle, "appears capable of recording and transmitting personal and sensitive information about a child's development back to" the company, said a Friday news release. The product -- which can track feeding and sleeping patterns -- "has the potential to raise serious privacy concerns" because it can create an "in-depth profile of children and their family," said the lawmakers. They asked Mattel to provide information such as: Will Aristotle use facial recognition software or take videos and photos? Will audio files be recorded and saved and stored on Mattel's servers? Will the company encrypt data it collects and will it delete personally identifiable information? Does it plan to share or sell the data? Does Aristotle have a privacy policy and is it compliant with the Children's Online Privacy and Protection Act? The letter seeks responses by Oct. 18. The company didn't comment.
The National Governors Association opened a technology office to promote state innovation, the NGA said in a Wednesday news release. Led by former FBI analyst Timothy Blute, the NGA Future office will advise governors on technological disruption including in payments, automation, IoT and cognitive computers, NGA said.
The global satellite machine-to-machine and IoT market should reach $2.9 billion in annual retail revenue by 2026, Northern Sky Research said Tuesday. NSR said land tracking, and particularly cargo tracking, likely will be the most profitable and competitive segment. It said most M2M and IoT services need only low bandwidth currently, but some verticals over the next decade will need additional bandwidth requirements for big data analysis, engine telematics and live data streaming, and those could be targeted by new mobile satellite service constellations. Low bandwidth and latency insensitive applications will be the focus of small satellite constellations, it said, as the business case for smallsat IoT-exclusive constellations is a question mark.
The FTC is targeting "consumer informational injury" in privacy and data security cases, said acting Chairman Maureen Ohlhausen, announcing a Dec. 12 workshop. "The goal is to inform our case selection and enforcement choices," she said in an FCBA speech Tuesday. She said the FTC takes "very seriously" its privacy and data security enforcement role, having brought more than 500 related cases, including six settlements in the past month with Uber (see 1708150010), TaxSlayer (see 1708290042), Lenovo (see 1709050020) and three companies to uphold the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield agreement (see 1709080025). The "case-by-case" approach to countering deceptive or unfair actions, she said, allows the commission to adapt "in the complex, fast changing technology industry" where consumers have "disparate and evolving expectations." Looking for patterns, Ohlhausen identified consumer informational injury of: "deception injury or subverting consumer choice," in which consumers are misled through claims about privacy or security features; "financial injury," in which "fraudsters" use private data to steal money; "health or safety injury," including from stalkers or revenge porn; "unwarranted intrusion injury," which led to the FTC's Do Not Call registry; and "reputational injury," which usually overlaps with other injuries, such as financial harm from release of medical information. She said the FTC needs to further understand when informational injuries require intervention. She said the privacy and data security workshop will seek to better identify consumer injuries, explore frameworks for quantitatively measuring injuries and estimating risks, and understand how parties evaluate the tradeoffs to sharing, collecting, storing and using information. Responding to questions afterward, Ohlhausen said communications "silos" are breaking down, with IoT a "fantastic example" of technology implicating FTC privacy and other authority. Despite having two commissioners, the FTC is being productive, she said: "Commissioner [Terrell] McSweeny and I work together very well." Ohlhausen welcomed FCC robocalling actions and is "excited" about connected and automated car technology, recognizing privacy and data security concerns.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce released a report Tuesday on “The IoT Revolution and Our Digital Security,” counseling against regulation. “When it comes to security, attempts to regulate today will become outdated tomorrow,” said the first of 10 principles. “Flexible approaches to collaboration and cooperation to combat shared threats have significant advantages over national regulation which serves to fragment the global economy and lags behind technological innovation.” The Chamber said the issues raised will only grow in importance. “Recent high-profile cyberattacks underscore the importance for public-private collaboration to create policies that enhance privacy, security, and trust in the IoT,” said Ann Beauchesne, senior vice president-national security and emergency preparedness. The best approach to IoT security is “data-driven, based on empirical evidence of a specific harm, and [will] be adaptable both over time and cross-border,” the Chamber said. “Security demands should never be used as industrial policy to advance protectionism or favor national economic interests.” The report was written in partnership with Wiley Rein.
T-Mobile will launch a narrowband-IoT (NB-IoT) network in 2018, starting in Las Vegas, then going nationwide, it said Monday. T-Mobile said it completed tests of the NB-IoT with Qualcomm and Ericsson earlier this year. “Because NB-IoT uses very little spectrum to carry data with greater efficiency and performance, it is already the globally-preferred standard to power the rapidly expanding world of IoT applications,” said a news release. “With extended battery life and increased connectivity in hard to reach places, NB-IoT lights up new capabilities for businesses and cities to connect massive numbers of devices at lower cost with small and steady streams of data.”
Iridium and smallsat company Magnitude Space (MS) signed a memorandum of understanding to look at collaboration on space-based IoT services through development of low-power global area network (LPGAN) technologies, Iridium said Thursday. Netherlands-based MS is planning a constellation of 18 to 24 smallsats to deliver LPGAN connectivity for agricultural applications, with services to commercially start in Q2, Iridium said. It said the MS MoU points to Iridium interest "in exploring collaborative partnerships with complementary NewSpace players, particularly those in the SmallSat low-power arena." Iridium said that beyond MS, it's working on a variety of other IoT-centric partnerships focused on low-power applications.
The IoT will be a $1.8 trillion revenue opportunity for wireless operators by 2026, GSMA said. “There is a real sense of momentum behind Mobile IoT networks in licensed spectrum, with multiple commercial launches around the world, as well as the availability of hundreds of different applications and solutions, but there is still much to be done,” said Alex Sinclair, chief technology officer. The U.S. region will account for $534 billion, GSMA estimated Wednesday.