Internet of things needs global privacy push, says UK regulator

The UK telecommunications regulator Ofcom has called for international industry standards on privacy in the Internet of Things.

The regulator published an outline of its approach to the developing Internet of Things, largely based on responses to a call for input that it made in 2014. It noted that “stakeholders” had identified data privacy and consumer literacy as their primary areas of concern. Respondents had said that existing UK data protection legislation would be appropriate for regulating the Internet of Things, though not necessarily a cure-all. They also favored industry-led approaches to keeping consumers in control. However, Ofcom wrote, "We consider that these approaches should ideally be agreed internationally where possible, so as not to inhibit sale and use of IoT devices and services across international boundaries…Data captured in one country may be processed or stored in another and different countries may have different data privacy regimes. Addressing such differences will be particularly important if manufacturers market their IoT devices in multiple countries."