Implications of the Connected Home, Human and Habitat on Australian Consumers
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“Home, Tweet Home”: Implications of the Connected Home, Human and Habitat on Australian Consumers by Alexander Vulkanovski ACCAN Intern (of Things) February 2016 “Home, Tweet Home”: Implications of the Connected Home, Human and Habitat on Australian Consumers Authored by: Alexander Vulkanovski Edited by: Narelle Clark Published in 2016 Supported by the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN). The operation of the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network is made possible by funding provided by the Commonwealth of Australia under section 593 of the Telecommunications Act 1997. This funding is recovered from charges on telecommunications carriers. The internship was sponsored by Google Australia Pty Ltd. Australian Communications Consumer Action Network Website: www.accan.org.au E-mail: [email protected] Telephone: +61 2 9288 4000 TTY: +61 2 9281 5322 ISBN: 978-1-921974-37-3 This work is copyright, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia Licence. You are free to cite, copy, communicate and adapt this work, so long as you attribute the author(s). To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/ This work can be cited as: Vulkanovski, A.,2016, “Home, Tweet Home”: Implications of the Connected Home, Human and Habitat on Australian Consumers, Australian Communications Consumer Action Network, Sydney. DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this report are the author’s own. 1 Table of Contents Executive Summary ................................................................................................................. 4 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 8 About this Report ........................................................................................................................................................................ 9 Defining the ‘Internet of Things’............................................................................................... 9 The Connected Home, Human and Habitat ..............................................................................11 The Connected Home ...............................................................................................................................................................12 The Connected Human ............................................................................................................................................................13 The Connected Habitat ............................................................................................................................................................14 Internet of Things: Past, Present and Future ............................................................................16 History of the Internet of Things ........................................................................................................................................16 The Current State of Internet of Things in Australia ..................................................................................................16 The Future of Internet of Things .........................................................................................................................................18 Internet of Things and Consumers ...........................................................................................21 Who is the ‘Consumer’ of Internet of Things? ...............................................................................................................21 The Consumer Drivers of Internet of Things .................................................................................................................21 Building Consumer Confidence ...........................................................................................................................................21 The Internet of Things and Consumer Issues ...........................................................................23 Scene One: Home, Connected Home .......................................................................................23 Internet of Things: Devices, Standards and Interoperability ..................................................................................24 Serviceability of the Connected Home, Human and Habitat ...................................................................................29 Scene Two: Guardian Angels ...................................................................................................32 The Connected Human: Healthcare and Wearables ...................................................................................................32 Internet of Things and Affordability ..................................................................................................................................39 Elderly Consumers and Consumers with Disabilities ................................................................................................42 Scene Three: Into the Wild ......................................................................................................43 Internet of Things and Consumerism ...............................................................................................................................44 Internet of Things and Children ..........................................................................................................................................48 Internet of Things and Privacy ............................................................................................................................................49 Scene Four: Old Man Yells at Cloud .........................................................................................53 Securing the Internet of Things ...........................................................................................................................................54 Internet of Things: Choice, Control and Opting Out ....................................................................................................58 Internet of Things and Consumer Protection ................................................................................................................58 Internet of Things and Environmental Implications ..................................................................................................61 2 Recommendations for Consumers ..........................................................................................62 Early adopters must stay informed, choose their uses carefully and be aware that choices may not be durable ...........................................................................................................................................................................................62 Avoid communication breakdown: Assess specific communications standards in use by each device ...........................................................................................................................................................................................................63 Build a Connected Home that is manageable, serviceable and user-friendly ..................................................63 Protect your privacy and security: know your product, know its limitations and be aware of the context of its usage ...................................................................................................................................................................64 Recommendations for Internet of Things Product and Service Providers .................................65 Adopt the elements of the ‘IoT Design Manifesto’ .......................................................................................................65 Adopt the recommendations of the OAIC ........................................................................................................................65 Adopt a policy of data minimisation..................................................................................................................................65 Give consumers tools of empowerment ..........................................................................................................................66 Implement privacy, security, choice and useability ‘by design’ .............................................................................67 Implement widely-accepted, open technical connectivity standards .................................................................69 Recommendations for Government and Policymakers ............................................................70 Innovate, Wait, then Regulate ..............................................................................................................................................70 Clarify the application of consumer guarantees to telecommunications services .........................................70 Become a market leader and early adopter ...................................................................................................................70 Develop a clear stance on private-sector use of publicly collected data ............................................................71 Identify, define and regulate Connected Human data ................................................................................................71 Introduce a data breach notification regime .................................................................................................................71