Survey Probes Concerns About Data Privacy Among IT Pros
ForgeRock, a provider of an identity-management platform designed to help organizations manage networks of connected devices, has released survey results that indicate inadequate data privacy and consent tools. TechValidate, an independent research firm, conducted the survey on ForgeRock’s behalf, querying more than 300 IT professionals from a range of industries and from 38 different countries throughout North America, Europe and Asia.
Approximately 93 percent of the survey respondents indicated that customer data privacy concerns are a critical issue at the C-level, while only 9 percent said that current data privacy and consent methods adequately protect consumers. Nearly all respondents—96 percent—said they believe that consumers are increasingly concerned about “their personal data privacy and their ability to control, manage and share data about themselves online,” and that organizations believe that “the ability to preserve and prove customer privacy builds loyalty for their brand.”
The survey revealed a marked difference in the opinions of data privacy professionals in the United States compared to those of their peers in Europe and Asia. Most respondents in the United States—84 percent—said they believe that U.S. regulations designed to protect consumer privacy are becoming similar to those enacted in European countries. Yet, European IT professionals were more skeptical, with only 66 percent agreeing that the United States would implement data privacy regulations similar to those in Europe.
ForgeRock says it commissioned the study in order to assess the role of data privacy and consent in building a trusted digital world.
Miracle-Gro Launches Connected Yard Platform
Consumer lawn and garden product company Scott’s Miracle-Gro Co. has announced the “Gro App” as part of its new Connected Yard platform. The app will be available early next month from the Apple iTunes Store, with the Android version of the app expected to be made available on Google Play later this year.
The Connected Yard platform is designed to help gardeners understand the conditions in which they plant and grow their flowers, shrubs and other plants. Connected Yard features sensors, as well as Gro software that will track the recent weather and rainfall, and determine which types of plants are most likely to succeed at each location, while the sensors identify soil conditions.
The sensors collect local data and forward it to the Gro-hosted server. Software processes that information and sends analysis back to the app running on a user’s smartphone, and the user can then view that data and also make changes. For instance, an irrigation controller can receive instructions from the cloud-based software, based on data from the sensors or as directed by the app user.
NFC Forum Announces Three New Technical Specifications
The NFC Forum, a nonprofit Near Field Communication (NFC) advocacy group, announced the publication of two adopted and one candidate specification this week, intended to make Internet of Things deployments more convenient and secure.
The candidate Specification 1.4 defines the structure and sequence of interactions that are used to allow electronic devices to communicate with one another using not only NFC but Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) or a wireless local area network (WLAN). For instance, a user could tap an NFC phone next to a printer, and then transfer data via NFC, BLE or WLAN, depending on what the printer supports.
This functionality is supported by the new Verb Record Type Definition (RTD) 1.0 Technical Specification and the Device Information RTD 1.0 Technical Specification, published last year.
Verb RTD 1.0 is a newly adopted technical specification used to encode generic and carrier-specific services—for example, triggering the printing of a picture or document via Bluetooth or WLAN.
Lastly, the NFC Logical Link Control Protocol (LLCP) 1.3 is a new adopted technical specification defining a protocol for communication between two NFC-enabled devices that require bi-directional communications. The specification adds a secure data-transport mechanism, with cryptography for encryption and message authentication to prevent eavesdropping.
New Report Shows Strong Interest in Location-based Marketing
A newly released report from the Location Based Marketing Association identifies how 253 marketers, such as Coca-Cola, Mondelez International, BMW, Tesco, Starbucks and Starhub, are using location-based technology for marketing, as well as what investments these companies are making in such technology and what their future plans are.
The online study was conducted by Fresh Intelligence in the United States, Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom and Singapore. It found that 75 percent of marketers believe location-based marketing is important, while only 65 percent think location-based technology is currently accurate. Growth in spending is planned in 2016 at a rate of 3 percent over last year. For the sector to meet its potential, the report’s authors found, data from such systems would need to be verifiable, standardized and anonymous.
The survey also found that although real-time location system (RTLS) solutions—which can employ Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons, Near Field Communication (NFC), GPS and Wi-Fi technologies, either individually or in various combinations—is being used to target consumers with offers to drive sales, 66 percent of global marketers plan to use RTLS technology in non-marketing areas of their operations, such as providing customer service or public safety.
BLE beacons, as well as NFC, GPS and Wi-Fi technologies, are all expected to have significant growth. The study found that 63 percent of marketers plan to invest in Wi-Fi-based location technologies, and 57 percent plan to invest in GPS, while 46 percent indicated they are purchasing NFC-based location systems this year and 41 percent are purchasing beacons.
The greatest interest was in social location services, with 48 percent of responders saying they’re interested in using social apps and location technologies to drive customers in-store. Location-based advertising and the Internet of Things follow in second and third places, at 43 percent and 36 percent, respectively.
The full report can be purchased at the association’s website.
Juniper Research Predicts Tripling of Health-Monitoring Device Use By 2020
Juniper Research expects the number of health-monitoring devices in use worldwide will be more than 70 million by 2020, up from an estimated 26 million this year.
In a report titled “Worldwide Digital Health: Developed and Emerging Market Opportunities 2016-2020,” Juniper forecasts that approval by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) will precipitate the use of monitoring devices in the health-care market by a much larger percentage than the current level. The report also finds a need for new entrants to prove that their hardware can measure health indicators with the same accuracy as that of standard medical devices.
The report’s authors say that an upsurge in the adoption of mobile and cloud health platforms, such as Apple Health and Google Fit, will further encourage growth in digital health-based solutions. They indicate that big data collected by such monitoring devices offers an opportunity for platforms such as IBM Watson Health Cloud. These platforms already provide insight into health information and enable more efficient decision making through data analytics.
According to the report, heightened accuracy from the latest versions of monitoring devices will lead to a fourfold increase in the number of individuals being monitored by 2020. Interoperability with personal smartphone devices, the authors say, will add value for patients.