Internet of Things
(OS/S)


Talk to Alana about impact calc - even though judge may agree with other side, the impact of our side is far wider. Do the thinking for the judge. Magnitude > probability > time frame. Don’t be afraid to use the terms.


Resolved: On balance, the benefits of the Internet of Things outweigh the harms of decreased personal privacy.






What is the Internet of Things?
The Internet of Things is an ongoing technological revolution of the physical world in which everyday objects are gaining increased functionality through Internet connectivity.


The term itself was first coined by British technological innovator Kevin Ashton in a 1999 presentation, more as a prediction of the future than anything else. However, it’s quickly developed into a reality in the close to twenty years since.


Affirmative


Economy:
The IOT provides businesses with much more data input from consumers using different services. This allows them to better predict when the markets for their product will be the best as well as where their products will succeed, enabling them to reach out and take advantage of opportunities, putting more money into the economy. Data + analytics allow the companies to grow and expand.


A study performed by Major L. Clark, III and Radwan N. Saade in 2010 in looking at historical trends came to the conclusion that small businesses are incubators for economic growth and catalysts for job creation.


Impact: Economy gains - easy to circulate money. Knowledge is power, and increased knowledge allows for more intelligent business moves as well as the creation of small businesses.


Security:
Invention of the cloud makes it so that important information is kept within a cloud server. Even if a business is physically broken into or a location is burned to the ground, the information will live on in the cloud. It’s an extra safety blanket. It’s also often heavily, heavily encrypted.


We also essentially carry around phones that are two cameras, a microphone, and a gps all in one. That makes it way easier than in the past to track down criminals, find missing children, and more.


Personal security is also heavily affected here. Alarm systems can be interconnected through a bunch of different devices, making them difficult to wholly disable. If somebody is ringing my doorbell in the age of the internet of things, I can just look at the camera on my phone and see who it is - whether it’s my neighbor or a shady guy in a ski mask, and that’ll give me more power to decide how I proceed.


Knowledge is power:
The vast majority of Internet of Things objects in the present day are “smart home” technology measuring temperature, air quality, and more within a house. Whatever it is, it’s easily accessible information that may not have been known otherwise. Whether it’s as mundane as a grocery list that a smart fridge adapts over time or knowledge of the supply status within your company, IoT makes it incredibly accessible and manageable.


Medical Technology
Walk into a hospital - there are tens if not hundreds of machines, all interconnected for one common purpose - helping people and saving lives. This is a prime example of the Internet of Things.


Job Creation:
The Internet of Things has created jobs in tons of different fields as well. One of the best examples here is Uber - before, plenty of people without jobs had cars. Now, just because they had a car and a smartphone, they could connect the two with a program that matches them with nearby people who need rides. Pokemon Go is another example of the creation of a program that’s given hundreds of people jobs managing servers through connecting a smartphone with the world. These are jobs that wouldn’t exist before.


Negative
Most of the concerns fall under three camps: privacy, safety, and security.


Safety:
Imagine hackers that change your prescriptions. Spies tapping into your voice-activated TV and listening to conversations within the privacy of your house. Home invaders that can use nanny cams to survey your home before a burglary. Criminals that can send emails from your account by cracking into your fridge.


CA: The majority of these problems can be solved through encryption and consumer awareness. Begin to expand Internet of Things by encouraging consumer awareness and heavily encrypting information to dissuade all but the most determined hackers and many issues are solved.


Evidence:
An example of a safety issue would be found within the modern car. Manufacturers are trying to turn cars into smartphones with increased touchscreen functionality, internet access, and remote GPS. One such program is Chrysler’s flagship uConnect. uConnect offers enhanced entertainment and navigation functionality, moving WiFi hotspots, and Bluetooth phone calls.


However, two prolific hackers, Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek, found a key exploitation within the uConnect system that makes 471,000 cars nationwide viable for attack. In an experiment, the hackers proved that not only the uConnect entertainment and radio functionalities were opened for attacking; they also managed to hijack the air conditioning, control of windshield wipers, and entirely stopping the accelerator from working. The hackers were able to perform potentially life-threatening changes to the car’s inner workings wirelessly and from the comfort of their own home.


Identity Theft:
The detriment of having almost everything about everyone stored in a cloud is the openness to identity theft. Electronic consumption makes it possible for hackers and predators to get personal information such as social security numbers and credit cards much easier than before. The impact this has on the people affected is tremendous. These people could be easily saddled with impressive debts they don’t know the source of, therefore lowering the credit and intensely harming their financial futures.


It’s also really hard to defend against this because oftentimes people don’t even know that it happens until it’s far too late. Even if they’re very mindful, there’s going to be input lag.


Major economic impacts if this happens on a business scale.


Privacy:
Imagine corporations monitoring the use of their products and selling that information to advertisers. Neighbors able to see all of your financial information by viewing your smart street profile.


Security + Weaponization:
Imagine your devices being implanted with malware and then used as bots to bring down corporate websites. A legion of everyday objects used to mount an attack on nationally secure information. Everything is available under IoT from public sector services like water supply to industrial machinery. This is all open to the attack of a skillful hacker.
The Chilling Effect