Protecting Consumers in the Age of the Internet of Things

(Excerpt) IoT devices are an ever-increasing force of nature in our daily lives. They provide a multitude of essential benefits that we as a society have come to rely on. Thus, IoT devices are likely to continue to become irreplaceable tools. With the many benefits that these devices bring, they also bring a vast array of privacy and security issues that our society has not had to face until recently.

Because of the new and prevalent risks associated with the IoT and because of the increasing harms to consumers, it is time for Congress to enact an IoT-specific data privacy and security law. Some of the provisions that Congress should consider including in such a law are reasonable security measures, notice and consent, data breach notification, a private right of action, and constraints on the way that manufacturers use and store consumer data.