IoT Will Need More Network Support, Spectrum, Symposium Told

FTC Commissioner Maureen Ohlhausen said a new staff report details the existing and potential benefits of IoT technology and gathers a wide range of perspectives. The report opposes IoT-specific legislation at this time because the industry is still in its early stages, and it also prioritizes security, which she said is appropriate because some IoT devices have already experienced data security failures that have harmed consumers. "I do not support the recommendation for baseline privacy legislation such as the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights, because I do not see the current need for such expansive legislation," she said. "I question what current harms baseline privacy legislation would reach that the FTC’s existing authority cannot."

While privacy and security concerns are large considerations when officials discuss IoT, spectrum is also a key consideration. Kelsey Guyselman, counsel for the House Commerce Committee, said Congress has been looking a lot at the IoT and held hearings recently on future policies. “Spectrum is the fuel behind innovation,” she said. "Without that element [of spectrum], you won't have a successful connectivity of these devices."

Because there's such a demand for spectrum, officials have been looking at the amount of spectrum the federal government uses and offering incentives for any possible federal reductions, Guyselman said. While the government is trying to reduce its spectrum usage, so is the broadcast industry, said Rosemary Harold of Wilkinson Barker. She said spectrum sharing is here to stay. But, she said, “if we start rolling out more and more database-type arrangements with shared use of spectrum and we don't have the personnel at the FCC to police it, that strikes me as a problem."

The panelists said everyone has a different idea of what privacy is, which makes it tough for the FTC to address. Shawn Chang of Wiley Rein said regulators will always struggle with privacy for the IoT, and it will have to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. “There's a debate about whether or not you can separate privacy from data security,” Chang said. "They are basically two sides of the same coin."

Alex Reynolds, CEA senior manager and regulatory counsel, said officials need to first figure out what devices and data are under regulatory jurisdiction. In terms of defining devices and the data they collect and use, Reynolds said no one is there yet and that officials need to start looking at those interoperability standards that are bubbling up. No bills have been introduced in Congress on the privacy issues and data collection for IoT. He said because definitions are difficult to write it's not the best idea to use the Fair Information Practice Principles as a basis to write regulations for data and IoT devices. Ruth Yodaiken, senior attorney for the division of privacy and identity protection at the FTC, said it’s important to educate consumers about what kind of data is being collected on them and what kinds of questions they should be asking about connected devices. Because consumers have changed their expectations and definitions about privacy, it's important for companies to accurately represent what data they collect and share.

From a carrier perspective, Chris Wieczorek, principal corporate counsel for T-Mobile, said more devices are never a bad thing. But IoT connected devices may not be using cellular data as much as they will Wi-Fi or unlicensed spectrum, so the carriers will likely not make a huge profit on those devices. Chris Helzer, chief engineer at the FCC Wireless Bureau, said everyone is talking about whether there should be more spectrum allocated for the IoT or if there should be more use of unlicensed spectrum, but he isn't sure any of that is necessary.