Designing a better internet of things, privacy and compliance by design as SysML domain extension for consumer smart electronics

Abstract

The Internet of Things (IoT), especially for consumer applications, is often described in terms of either its great promise for new and improved services, or its wholesale invasion of user privacy. Investigating this dichotomy, describing the nature there of, and proposing a remedy, jointly constitute the core of the project and contribution presented herein. The IoT is characterised by relentless miniaturisation, cost reduction, and the continued inclusion of new market segments, all in aid of delivering on the promise of truly ubiquitous computing. As one of the most prominent areas for IoT implementation, networked consumer electronics shows a rapid pace of adoption, recasts legacy devices as connected ”smart” devices, and presents an extensive list of privacy and security failures. Making use of connected devices at the edge, consumer IoT implementations supply data to more capable off site systems for analysis and value extraction. This supplies the service provider with valuable data but also affords the customer new services and device functionality. Unfortunately, such devices and systems are all too often rolled out with little to no regard for privacy or regulatory compliance. We contend that the best option for addressing these issues is a new “by design” approach which is based on an investigation of current practice and theory and framed within modern industry best practice. We act on this contention by considering a wide range of related contemporary research and legislation, conducting testbed based research and finally, deriving a new domain extension for the Systems Modelling Language (SysML) connecting formerly discrete privacy and compliance focused elements. Consequently, this domain extension is called DISCREET: DomaIn extenSion for Compliance and pRivacy by dEsign in consumEr ioT.

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