IoT Extends Software Terms of Service and Licensing to Our Every Day Objects

I find myself thinking about what the terms of service we agree to for online services are doing to our lives. Whether we see the effects or not, they are guiding almost everything we do in our personal and professional worlds. They are something that began on our desktop computers, migrated to our more mobile laptops, then deeper into our personal lives via our mobile smartphones.

We rarely understand what we are agreeing to when we check the box for these terms of service, which leaves me really surprised to see us accept the application of terms of service to everyday objects we depend on, as part of the Internet of Things movement. As physical objects in our lives get connected to the Internet, they begin to generate valuable data, requiring software to manage—all being directed by the terms of service set forth by the manufacturer. 

You can see this playing out as manufacturers like GM and John Deer are limiting what you can do with their physically connected equipment. These terms of service are changing the meaning of ownership, and evolving the physical things we purchase into subscriptions, instead of outright ownership. Following the tone of the conversation set by terms of service which is guiding software, this new breed of terms of service being applied to physical objects in a way that heavily benefits manufacturers, shifting as much the risk as possible to the consumers, leaving many of the benefits as possible for themselves.

In the rapidly expanding online and mobile worlds we (consumers) have almost no tools that help us manage the terms of service we are agreeing to, and almost no leverage when it comes to how these are crafted, changed, and applied. Why the hell would we keep this rapid pace continuing into the physical world, as well as our online worlds? It just doesn't pencil out? Especially when you consider how we give up so much of our privacy, security, and ownership as in agreeing to these terms of service.

How terms of service are applied to virtual and increasingly physical objects that are being connected to the Internet are much like algorithms, as they are often coded black boxes that we do not always understand. I will keep tracking on them the best I can, but as a community, we need a lot more resources if we are going to shift the balance of all of this more in the favor of the average consumer.