Drinking from the Fire Hose: How Massive Self-Surveillance and the Internet of Things Are Changing Constitutional Privacy

23 Pages Posted: 16 Aug 2017

Date Written: August 15, 2017

Abstract

In an era of diminishing privacy, the Internet of Things (“IoT”) has become a consensual and inadvertent tool that undermines privacy protection. The IoT, really systems of networks connected to each other by the Internet or other radio-type device, creates consensual mass self-surveillance in such domains as fitness and the Fitbit, health care and heart monitors, “smart” houses and cars, and even “smart” cities. The multiple networks also have created a degree of interconnectivity that has opened up a fire hose of information for companies and governments alike, as well as making it virtually insuperable to live off of “the grid” in the modern era. This treasure trove of information allows for government tracking in unprecedented ways. This paper explores the influence of the IoT, the mass self-surveillance it produces on privacy, and the new shapes of privacy that are emerging as a result. This paper offers several forms of protection against the further dissipation of privacy.

We have met the enemy, and he is us. –Theunis Bates

Suggested Citation

Friedland, Steven, Drinking from the Fire Hose: How Massive Self-Surveillance and the Internet of Things Are Changing Constitutional Privacy (August 15, 2017). West Virginia Law Review, Vol. 119, No. 3, 2017, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3019416

Steven Friedland (Contact Author)

Elon University School of Law ( email )

201 N. Greene Street
Greensboro, NC 27401
United States

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