The Internet-of-Things-That-Are-Marginally-Useful-for-Surveillance

Posted: April 17th, 2016

By Marshall Erwin

Marshall Erwin is a researcher specializing in intelligence, cybersecurity, and counterterrorism. Most recently, he was a fellow at the Hoover Institution, supporting its Foreign Policy Working Group. Between 2004 and 2010, he worked as a counterterrorism and cybersecurity analyst in the intelligence community. He also served as the counterterrorism adviser to Senator Susan Collins on the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee and as the intelligence specialist at the Congressional Research Service.

The Internet-of-Things has for years promised to usher in a new wave of innovation. It has sometimes been called the Internet-of-Everything or Internet 3.0—grand language illustrating its potential. That potential would also seem to offer new opportunities for law enforcement and intelligence services. But the promise has thus far not materialized.

I prefer, somewhat glibly, to use my own term for this wave of technological change: the Internet-of-Things-That-Are-Marginally-Useful-for-Surveillance (IOTTAMUFS). I use this term because the IOTTAMUFS is not going to be the boon to law enforcement and intelligence services that some suggest. Here is why.

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