A Bright but Perilous Future for the Tech-Wearing Human

2016-10-11

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ABRIGHTBUTPERILOUSFUTUREFORTHETECH-WEARINGHUMAN

LOUIS-PIERREGRAVELLEANDVINCENTBERGERON*
ROBIC,
LLP
L
AWYERS,PATENTANDTRADE-MARKAGENTS

ThistextwasinitiallypublishedontheC2Montrealblog.ROBICisanofficialpartner
oftheeventandhostedaroundtableonWednesday,May25th,2016.

Thepulseofthetechcommunityindicatesthattheinitialhypeandfuturisticcuriosity
associatedwithwearabletechisslowlyfading,makingwayformorepragmatic
considerations.
WhatAreYouWearing?

Thewearabletechnologymeltingpotisnowstartingtosettledownintodistincttypes
oftechnologythatwecanweartoimproveourqualityoflife,monitorourhealth,
assistwithdangerousprofessionaltasksor,let’sfaceit,tobefashionable.

Thereisincreasinginterestinwearabletechfromboththeconsumerandcorporate
markets.Originallyfocusedonwatchesandeyeglasses,wearabletechhasnow
expandedintootherindustrysectors,suchassmartclothing,whereMontreal-based
companieslikeHexoskinandOMsignalareworldleaders.

Admittedly,itwouldbeastretchtosaythatwithinthenextfewmonthspeoplewillbe
usingsmartglassestoreadtheiremailswhiledrivingtowork(givingawholenew
meaningtohands-freedevices),orthattheaveragepersonwillbeworkingoutin
theirconnectedgymshirtandshoes.Thatsaid,wecanalreadyseethegenesisof
sometrendslikelytoemergeoverthenextfewmonths(darewesayyears?).

ShiftingtoSoftwareandDataManagement

Manyadvanceshavebeenmadeinrefininghardwareoverthepastfewyears,and
wearabletechdevelopersarenowexpectedtostartturningtheirattentionawayfrom
thehardwareandaestheticsofsingle-functiondevices,focusinginsteadonsoftware

©CIPS,2016.*FromROBIC,LLP,amultidisciplinaryfirmofLawyers,andPatentandTrade-markAgents.Published
intheSpring2016(Vol.19,no.3)Newsletterofthefirm.Publication068.204E.

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anddatamanagement,savefortheoccasionalcollaborationwithfashiondesigners
orotherwell-knownbrands.
Goodlooksandqualitysensorsareimportant,butasthemarketandtechnology
evolve,thecrucialquestionwillbeaboutthebenefitsforthewearer.Therealadded
valueofwearabletechliesinitscapacitytoanalyzeandmakesenseofthehuge
volumeofdatathatisbeingcollected.Theaverageuserisunabletointerpretthe
rawdatacapturedbytheirdevice;softwareandbigdataanalysiswillbekeyin
decodingthathighheartrateinthemiddleofthenight.

Inthecomingmonths,wearabletechcompanieswillbeginmarketingthemselves
andtheirproductsbasedondatacollectionqualityanddataanalyticscapacityrather
thanhardwarequality.Itfollowsthatmoresophisticateddataanalysiswillspur
advancesinthefieldofcognitivecomputing(includingmachinelearningand
adaptivealgorithms).
It’simpossibletosayhowmuchwearabletechwillimpactourqualityoflifeinashort
periodoftime.Afterall,cellphonebrandsarenowdistinguishedbyappsandother
features,nottheirabilitytomakeandreceivephonecalls.

Consumerswillalsohelppointdevelopersinthedirectionthatinnovationshould
take.Forexample,smartwatcheshavebeenaroundforarelativelylongperiodof
timeinthetechsector.Appleenteredthisspaceamidmuchmediahype,butthe
markethasfailedtoigniteconsumerpassion.Saleshavenottakenoffassomehad
predicted,andothersarepredictingexitsfromthemarket.Ontheotherhand,
corporationshavebeenquicktospottheadvantagesofwearabletechglasses,
especiallyfortrainingpurposes,whichhasresurrectedtheGoogleGlassandother
similarproductsfromthecemeteryforcreepytech.

ThePerilsforSecurityandPrivacy

Eventhoughthebenefitsassociatedwiththecomingofageofwearabletechare
numerousandimpressive,theyalsopresentaseriousandrealthreattosomething
mostofusvaluedearly:ourprivacy.
WiththeproliferationofIoTdevices(ofwhichwearabletechisbutasubset)thatact
asnewcollectionpointsforpersonaldata,whatisactuallyhappeningtothemassive
amountofcollecteddata?Suchenormousquantitiesofinformationareuselessfor
theaverageuser,whohasnocontextforinterpretation.However,somecompanies
andevengovernmentsmaywanttousetheinformationiftheycanfindawayto
interpretitinameaningfulway.
“Reallywe’reenteringthisworldwhereeverythingiscataloguedandeverythingis
documentedandcompaniesandgovernmentswillbemakingdecisionsaboutyouas
anindividualbasedonyourdatatrail.Ifyouwanttobeconsideredanindividualand

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notjustadatapoint,thenit’sinyourinteresttoprotectyourprivacy,”saidJosh
Lifton,MITMediaLabPh.D.andCEOofCrowdSupply,inthisTechRepubliccover
story.
Collectively,wemustrealizethatpersonaldataisextremelyvaluableforbusinesses,
whowanttouseittobetterunderstandtheircustomers’habitsandtoknowwhen,
where,orwhattosellthem.Personaldataisalsoextremelyprofitabletohackers,
whowillleveragetheirillicitaccesstothisinformation.Accordingtothesamearticle,
thepersonalinformationcontainedinawearabledeviceisworthtentimesthatofa
creditcardontheblackmarket—astolencreditcardcanbecancelled,usuallyfairly
quicklybyanalertconsumer,whilepersonaldatawillmostlyremainthesame
throughoutanindividual’slifetime(dateofbirth,address,height,weight,medical
conditions,etc.).
Fromaconsumerpointofview,thesecurityofcollecteddataisattheheartof
wearabletechdevelopments.Therapidincreaseinthenumberofwearabledevices
beingsoldworldwidemeansthatthenumberofaccesspointsfordatabreacheshas
alsoincreasedexponentially.
Whileeverybodyagreesontheimportanceofdatasecurity,thereisarealriskthat
theearlyversionsofsomewearabledevicescouldbevulnerabletoattacksas
companiesrushtogettheirproductstomarketasquicklyaspossibleintheracefor
marketshare.Whilesomeoftheseflawswillbecorrectedviasoftwareupdates,not
allwearabledevicesconnectdirectly(orcanevenconnect)totheInternetfor
installingupdatesandsecuritypatches.Inaddition,thehassleofperforminga
softwareupdateonaconnecteddevicemayfurtherexacerbatethevulnerabilityof
wearabletech.Let’shopethat2016willbetheyearthatkeyindustryplayersfocus
ondataanddevicesecurity.
TheUber-ficationofOurLives:WhenConvenienceTrumpsPrivacy

BasilHashem,SeniorDirectorofEndUserComputingMobileStrategyatVMware,
perfectlysummarizedthegreatironyofthewaywetreatourprivacyineverydaylife:

“Ithinkwe’reinaworldIcalltheUber-ficationofourlives.Youasksomeonepoint
blankfortheirlocationandcreditcardnumberandtheysayno.Yousay,‘Signup
hereandI’llpickyouup’andtheygiveittoyou.Inourlives,conveniencesseemto
trumpprivacyeverytime.”(quotedinthepreviouslymentionedTechRepublicpiece)

Whilesoftwareanddataanalyticswillboostthesalesofwearabledevicesinthe
comingyears,thecorollaryisthattherewillbeatleastaproportionalincreaseinthe
collectionandanalysisofextremelysensitivedatathatyouwouldotherwisebe
hesitanttocommunicatetothegovernment,insurancecompanies,orevenyourown
physician.Let’shopethatthedevelopersofthesewondersofthefuturewillcorrelate

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theconvenienceandappearanceofwearabletechwithtremendousattentiontodata
securityandprivacy