Status: concluded Period: May 2015 – May 2017 Funding: 70.000 USD (1st year); 50.000 (2nd year) Funding organization: eBay Inc. Person(s) in charge: Antonio Vetro’, Marco Ricolfi
Executive summary
The Nexa Center is performing a research on ownership and consumer/citizen empowerment in an Internet of Things (IoT) world. The expected outcome of the research is the realization of a conceptual framework facilitating the further implementation of a Business-to-Consumer commerce able to empower the end-user of IoT solutions.
Background
The “Internet of Things” (IoT) – term coined in 1999 by the British technology pioneer Kevin Ashton – refers to an infrastructure composed by billions of physical goods – equipped with smart modules and integrated into the Internet – which collect data, communicate with people and with other things, and enable remote and/or autonomous command and control of environments. This integration of the physical dimension with the digital one is destined to impact significantly on the everyday life of individuals.
In the first year of the research, we investigated the customers’ ability to use and transfer the IoT-embedded items purchased.
In the second year, the research is focused on the interface between the IoT and circular economy, which runs on two tracks: from one perspective envisaged risks and challenges of IoT, complemented on the parallel path by visions of IoT as potential enabler of the circular economy.
We are pursuing such research program by involving a wide pool of experts from both STEM and SSH areas, who are analysing the issues in connection with three major technological determinants: big data, the cloud, and platforms.
The “visions” concern benefits for consumers, business and society at large, while the risks span different disciplines: for instance we deal with consumer protection issues, we investigate environmental threats, adverse consequences for employment and foresee economical problems like market dominance and effects of price discriminations.
Objectives
Based on the analysis of the European Union and Member State laws applicable to the matter, and of a set of exemplary real cases, this research project aims to answer to three main questions:
How are control and ownership of consumers goods altered by the IoT advent?
To what extent is this alteration compatible with the European legislation in force?
More generally, what impact does this change of paradigm have on society?
Can IoT be a significant enabler of the circular economy ? What are the embedded risks?
Results
The main results from the first year research were:
A semantic wiki which contains the research materials gathered, classified according to an ontology designed on purpose; it also rallies the case studies examined.
A research paper – “’Take care, Neo: the Fridge has you’: A technology-aware legal review of consumer usability issues in the Internet of Things” (currently under peer-review at the European Journal of Law and Technology)
As far as the second research track is concerned, on 21 Sept. 2016 we hosted an internal workshop whose discussion laid the foundations of a public event which was a conference titled Internet of Things: Hell or Paradise?”, held in Turin on Dec 2, 2016 (a short, narrative, executive summary is available here).
The December 2016 Conference is followed by a round table organized in Brussels in collaboration with the Department of Jurisprudence of Turin University and in cooperation with IEEE. The title of the meeting is “IoT and the Circular economy: This Side of Paradise”, counterbalancing the title of the first part of our public discussion. As the envisaged benefits concern consumers, business and society at large, the meeting covers different areas: consumer protection, accessibility of valuable data and implications for environment, as well as the obverse downside, including adverse consequences for employment, market dominance and effects of price discriminations. Illustrative examples of the research questions that will drive the discussion are: in which way can re-use of devices and assets be enabled by avoiding lock-ins, supporting data portability and combating silos? How does this interface with environmental concerns? The ultimate goal of the workshop is to elicit concrete recommendations for policy action and suggestions for further research.
@techreport{nokey,
title = { Internet of Things and Circular Economy - Final Report},
author = {Nexa Center for Internet & Society},
url = {https://nexa.polito.it/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/5.-final-report.pdf},
year = {2017},
date = {2017-09-01},
abstract = {In May 2015 the Nexa Center started a Project with eBay, in order to conduct a research on ownership and consumer/citizen empowerment in an IoT-driven world. The expected outcome of the research was the realization of a conceptual framework facilitating the further implementation of a Business-to-Consumer commerce so as to empower the end-user of IoT solutions.
The research involved a wide pool of experts with different backgrounds and skills: law, economics, media and technology. The experts analyzed the issues in connection with three major technological determinants: big data, the cloud, and online platforms.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {techreport}
}
In May 2015 the Nexa Center started a Project with eBay, in order to conduct a research on ownership and consumer/citizen empowerment in an IoT-driven world. The expected outcome of the research was the realization of a conceptual framework facilitating the further implementation of a Business-to-Consumer commerce so as to empower the end-user of IoT solutions.
The research involved a wide pool of experts with different backgrounds and skills: law, economics, media and technology. The experts analyzed the issues in connection with three major technological determinants: big data, the cloud, and online platforms.
@techreport{nokey,
title = {Perspectives on Rights as a Standard in Balancing Interests from a Survey of Business Models},
author = {Federico Morando },
url = {https://nexa.polito.it/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/3.-morando-rights.pdf},
year = {2017},
date = {2017-09-01},
abstract = {The paper at hand is part of a research project about the Internet of Things (IoT) and its role in supporting the development of a Circular Economy (CE). The IoT may have mixed impacts on environmental sustainability – e.g., in traditional economic settings, it may adversely impact the environment, increasing the technological obsolescence of durable goods. At the same time, some IoT (and/or cloud robotics or otherwise connected) components are a prerequisite of a full-fledged circular economy, where reuse, repair, remanufacture and recycling become part of the products themselves and/or of the business models used to deliver services to the end-users. This is the case – as this paper will discuss in describing CE business models – because the collection of an increasing amount of information and the existence of durable links between manufacturers and their products is an enabler of the predictive maintenance and reverse logistics (e.g., take-back management, incentivized return and reuse, collection of used products) enabling the Circular Economy.
The research question on which we focus is not whether the IoT may have a positive environmental impact. This would amount to asking whether a CE may actually be implemented (and, for the sake of discussion, we assume that this is the case). The question is, instead, whether it is possible that this happens in such a way that simultaneously meets the interests of society, citizens and companies.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {techreport}
}
The paper at hand is part of a research project about the Internet of Things (IoT) and its role in supporting the development of a Circular Economy (CE). The IoT may have mixed impacts on environmental sustainability – e.g., in traditional economic settings, it may adversely impact the environment, increasing the technological obsolescence of durable goods. At the same time, some IoT (and/or cloud robotics or otherwise connected) components are a prerequisite of a full-fledged circular economy, where reuse, repair, remanufacture and recycling become part of the products themselves and/or of the business models used to deliver services to the end-users. This is the case – as this paper will discuss in describing CE business models – because the collection of an increasing amount of information and the existence of durable links between manufacturers and their products is an enabler of the predictive maintenance and reverse logistics (e.g., take-back management, incentivized return and reuse, collection of used products) enabling the Circular Economy.
The research question on which we focus is not whether the IoT may have a positive environmental impact. This would amount to asking whether a CE may actually be implemented (and, for the sake of discussion, we assume that this is the case). The question is, instead, whether it is possible that this happens in such a way that simultaneously meets the interests of society, citizens and companies.
@techreport{nokey,
title = { 'Take care, Neo: the Fridge has you': A technology-aware legal review of consumer usability issues in the Internet of Things},
author = {Myriam Bianco},
url = {https://nexa.polito.it/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/FINAL_Take-care-Neo_-the-Fridge-has-you_A-technology-aware-legal-review-of-consumer-usability-issues-in-the-Internet-of-Things_0.pdf},
year = {2016},
date = {2016-01-01},
abstract = {Consumer goods are increasingly becoming components of the Internet of Things (IoT) infrastructure, as they are equipped with computing capacities and Internet connections. Through the examination of seven IoT consumer products currently marketed (e.g., Nest Learning Thermostat, Apple Watch), this paper investigates the main usability issues associated with them, as well as the potential legal implications of these issues, such as, for example, lack of product conformity, unfairness of contract terms, and abuse of dominant position. We show that the digital features of these products enable a much more heterogeneous technical and contractual configuration than their analog equivalents. Moreover, we consider the implications of the ubiquitous nature of IoT goods, that can be remotely monitored and controlled by their suppliers. Also, we discuss to what extent the use of IoT goods is dependent from other services, since software and/or data may be located outside the device, e.g., in the cloud. On the one hand, IoT goods might represent a tangible improvement of user experience. On the other hand, businesses might exploit IoT-specific features to increase consumer lock-in, and more generally reduce consumer ability to use and dispose of the products purchased. We suggest that a consumer-friendly approach to IoT could represent a competitive advantage, and should encompass, at least, the following aspects: ensuring full transparency of the terms of purchase and use; compensating for the lack of actual full ownership of the good; opting for open hardware and software, at least when necessary in order to ensure long-term provision of the service; considering consumers from a broader perspective, i.e. as citizens.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {techreport}
}
Consumer goods are increasingly becoming components of the Internet of Things (IoT) infrastructure, as they are equipped with computing capacities and Internet connections. Through the examination of seven IoT consumer products currently marketed (e.g., Nest Learning Thermostat, Apple Watch), this paper investigates the main usability issues associated with them, as well as the potential legal implications of these issues, such as, for example, lack of product conformity, unfairness of contract terms, and abuse of dominant position. We show that the digital features of these products enable a much more heterogeneous technical and contractual configuration than their analog equivalents. Moreover, we consider the implications of the ubiquitous nature of IoT goods, that can be remotely monitored and controlled by their suppliers. Also, we discuss to what extent the use of IoT goods is dependent from other services, since software and/or data may be located outside the device, e.g., in the cloud. On the one hand, IoT goods might represent a tangible improvement of user experience. On the other hand, businesses might exploit IoT-specific features to increase consumer lock-in, and more generally reduce consumer ability to use and dispose of the products purchased. We suggest that a consumer-friendly approach to IoT could represent a competitive advantage, and should encompass, at least, the following aspects: ensuring full transparency of the terms of purchase and use; compensating for the lack of actual full ownership of the good; opting for open hardware and software, at least when necessary in order to ensure long-term provision of the service; considering consumers from a broader perspective, i.e. as citizens.
