Top 3 IoT Challenges: Data, Data and Data

CMSWire’s David Roe recently published an excellent piece on the problems with IoT devices.

He mentioned security and user privacy, but I couldn’t help but expand on the problems relating to data. As far as I’m concerned, the top three issues with the IoT era are all data-based.

1. Data processing

Every time we put yet another device under the nose of the ever-expanding consumer base, we create heaps of new data.

How do you make sense of all that data? How do you use it? How do you access it? Until we solve those processing problems, is there truly much benefit other than potential regulatory requirements? Lot’s of questions, but only limited answers.

2. Data storage

All that data has to go somewhere, you know. Even “the cloud” has its limits, and I suppose we have little choice other than to entrust behemoths like Amazon and Google to provide the storage space.

That alone raises another question: who truly owns all that data? Who is responsible for its security, storage and usage? What happens if these huge companies decide to leverage their power in ways that are against public interest? More questions, less answers.

3. Data protocols

We need some data protocols because, at the minute, it seems like the wild west. New devices are created and distributed, yet there doesn't seem to be any protocols to manage content, identification or security. So, what happens when IoT devices are created to create havoc to networks and data systems?

In my opinion, these data problems are now more in need of answers than ever before now that the GDPR deadline is looming.

What’s your take on IoT devices? Are they raising more questions than they answer, or are these just some manageable teething problems?

Read David Roe’s original post on the problems of IoT devices on CMSWire.