I started my reading today with ZDNET’s 2019 Turkeys. This is an annual effort to highlight the failures and disappointments in the technology industry. I must admit that I was unaware of some of the things they highlighted and, honestly, quite disappointed in ZDNET for some of the others they had an issue with, then there were the obvious entries that I think they had every right to show disappointment in.
One of the Turkeys this year revolves around Google purchasing Nest and some related home security and convenience product lines. At the heart of the issue are two problems, Google has taken these products from open architecture (a field of technology and protocol sharing so others could develop products to work with Nest and associated security products) to a closed architecture where only Google will develop and sell compatible products and services. The second problem is that Google has not addressed privacy issues for those using this and other families of their products and has a habit of using the “presumed private” data in some very not private ways.
Another Turkey suggested by ZDNET is Google and its lack of appropriate behavior with large blocks of personal medical records that they gained access to by virtue of that data being managed by them in the cloud. It remains to be seen if legal action will be taken by patients, organizations or even local or national government agencies; but, initially, it appears as if that might be appropriate.
A couple of Turkeys were handed out for a lack of acceptance of the USB-C standard which ZDNET had hoped several brands would embrace this year with their new products. Because the connector is more damage resistant and easier to correctly plugin combined with enhanced power capacity and data rates, it was hoped that it would be widely used on new devices; however, Apple and Samsung appear to have not been ready for that change. Maybe ZDNET does not fully understand the marketing strategies (planned obsolescence and designed in fragility to guarantee more sales?) of these phone manufacturers.
Highlighted in several of the Turkeys this year was the disparity between the presumed privacy of cloud storage and the actual level of protection for private material stored in the cloud. Specific issues appear to be access allowed to law enforcement (without need for a court order or warrant), use of data by the cloud manager for marketing, research, and guidance sold to businesses including insurance firms. It appears that this may have been done within the letter of the privacy statements attached to the sign-up process for obtaining the cloud storage and other services; but, for the consumer, those statements are meaningless without considerable legal assistance and a full understanding of the possibilities for use and misuse of the stored information. In short, the above-average consumer is unable to grant informed consent.