European Commission gets interested in the Internet of Things

The European Commission wants to find out whether there is enough of a business case for a single firm to exploit the market. In the commission’s statement of intent it said it wants to find out about privacy, security and safety and whether societial acceptance requires ethical and legal frameworks to be put into place.

The commission is right in treating the Internet of Things seriously. While the term might be something of a marketer’s delight, the underlying principles behind it are extremely powerful and could generate a lot of money for private companies, which typically means that users’ and public interests are sacrificed on the altar of profits.