The ICO has been working on developing a Guidance for Consumer Internet of Things (IoT) for manufacturers, due to be published for consultation in Winter 24/25. The Guidance is aiming to provide manufacturers with regulatory clarity and certainty.
As part of the policy development, we recently conducted research with consumers which provided valuable insights into their perceptions of IoT products and expectations from manufacturers. We’d now like to hear from manufacturers.
We are organising a roundtable for IoT manufacturers which will feature discussion between attendees aimed at building a shared understanding of how data protection legislation applies to consumer IoT.
Our focus is on IoT products available to consumers on the market, including fitness and wellbeing devices, over-the-counter medical devices, smart home products and smart appliances. Connected cars, smart meters and use of consumer IoT in enterprise settings are not in scope of our current work.
The purpose of the roundtable is for the ICO to gain insight into the challenges IoT manufacturers face when designing products in a privacy preserving way.
Organisations participating in the roundtable will be expected to give thoughts on where they need more clarity on how data protection legislation applies to IoT products, for example when designing for transparency, how to ask for consent, suitable set up for multiple users, understanding of controllership and security features.
The roundtable will also address the findings of the recent ICO citizen jury research on consumer IoT and discuss how IoT products can be designed in a way to meet people’s expectations.
Given the interactive nature of the workshop, the number of attendees is capped. We will select organisations on the basis of their expertise and relevance to the workshop topics. We will use the information you provide in the form below to select attendees. If you have been selected to participate in the workshop, you will receive an invite by email.
The roundtable will take place in person in London on 11 July 2024 under the Chatham House rule.