STUDENTS ''INTERNET OF THINGS'' SHIMMERS

A SMART PRODUCT can connect, share and interact with its user and other devices. Smart products connect to the Internet via different communication connections.

The most popular smart products are smartphones, games consoles, smart TVs, wearable health trackers, thermostats, toys and connected cars.

These devices are capable of collecting and analysing user data and transmitting to other connected devices in a network.

Networks of smart products are also known as the Internet of Things. [IOT]

ON The World Consumer Rights Day [WCRD] ............

Pakistani users of smart products [mobile phone, TV, wearable devices share their concerns with the consumers living on other countries relating to lack of security, privacy and meaningful choices as well as lack of clarity on who is responsible when things go wrong.

According to a survey conducted by The Network for Consumer Protection to commemorate  WCRD, a whopping 83% of the university going students elaborated not allowing telecom service providers to access their personal information.

The Network is a member of Consumer International [CI], a UK based umbrella organisation of 200 members from more than 100 countries.

Despite the fact that all telecom providers have clauses to access and share a consumer's personal information, 84% of the students say that they don't think by signing contracts with telecom providers, they allow the providers to share it with the third party.

In the survey, 500 students of different universities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi were contacted regarding their concerns related to the use of smartphones.

Of the 150 million mobile users in Pakistan, 77% of users are between 21 to 30 years old. It is predicted that by 2025, 72% of the Internet users will be accessing the Internet exclusively via mobile.

Around half of these users will come from China, India, Indonesia, Nigeria and Pakistan.

A 2018 global consumer study of CO revealed that 52% of users were concerned about their online privacy compared to one year ago.

While 43% of respondents from a different survey said, they wanted to know more about  the data collected about them via their connected devices and 47% worried about identity theft.

A significant data privacy risk arises from devices being able [and indeed designed to communicate with each other and to transfer data autonomously to third parties

OBJECTS within a connected system may collect data or information that is innocuous on its own but which, when collated and analyzed with other information, could reveal quiet accurate knowledge of an individual resulting in increased user-traceability and profiling.