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IoT Data Privacy
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IoT devices collect sensitive personal data: location, biometrics, habits, medical info, etc.
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Many devices operate continuously and often silently, leading to passive surveillance risks.
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Users rarely get full control or visibility into what’s collected, stored, or shared.
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Non-compliance can result in huge fines
Popular Regulations
GDPR (EU)
Applies if data subjects are EU citizens.
Focus: Consent, Right to access/erase, Data minimization, Security by design, Data portability.
HIPAA (USA)
Applies to Protected Health Information (PHI).
Focus: Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability of electronic health data.
Requires Business Associate Agreements if third parties handle data.
How to Implement Privacy in IoT Systems
Privacy by Design
- Collect only necessary data
- Anonymize/pseudonymize where possible
- Use edge processing to reduce data sent to cloud
Security Practices
- Encrypted storage & transport (TLS 1.3)
- Mutual authentication (cert-based, JWT)
- Secure boot & firmware validation
User Controls
- Explicit opt-in for data collection
- Transparent data usage policies
- Easy delete/download of personal data
Audit & Monitoring
- Logging access to sensitive data
- Regular privacy impact assessments
What Industry is Doing Now
| Company/Platform | What They Do |
|---|---|
| Apple | Local processing for Siri; minimal cloud usage |
| Google Nest | Centralized cloud with opt-out data sharing |
| AWS IoT Core | Fine-grained access policies, audit logging |
| Azure IoT | GDPR-compliant SDKs; data residency controls |
| Fitbit (Google) | HIPAA-compliant services for health data |
Pros & Cons of IoT Privacy Measures
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Builds trust with users | May increase latency (edge compute) |
| Avoids fines & legal issues | Higher infra cost (storage, encryption) |
| Enables secure ecosystems | Limits on innovation using personal data |
| Competitive differentiator | Complex to manage cross-border compliance |
Data Masking
This is about obfuscating sensitive info during storage, transit, or access.
Types
- Static masking: Permanent (e.g., obfuscating device ID at ingestion)
- Dynamic masking: At query time (e.g., show only last 4 digits to analysts)
- Tokenization: Replacing values with reversible tokens
Use Cases
- Sharing data with 3rd parties without exposing PII
- Minimizing insider threats
- Compliance with HIPAA/GDPR
Tools & Approaches
- Telegraf Preprocessor modules (Static Masking)
- SQL-level masking (e.g., MySQL, SQL Server)
- API gateways that redact fields
- Custom middleware that masks data at stream-level (e.g., MQTT → InfluxDB)