Supportive devices or unnecessary
surveillance?
New book warns of threats posed by
ambient intelligence, calls for safeguards
In the near future, every manufactured product
– our clothes, money, appliances, the paint on our walls, the carpets on our
floors, our cars – will be embedded with intelligence, networks of tiny sensors
and actuators, which some have termed “smart dust” or an “Internet of Things”.
The world of ambient intelligence (AmI) is not far off. We already have
surveillance systems, biometrics, personal communicators, machine learning and
more. Ambient intelligence will provide personalised services − and know more
about us − on a scale dwarfing anything hitherto
available.
Safeguards in a World of Ambient Intelligence, a new
book written by a European consortium of researchers, serves as a warning. It
aims to warn policymakers, industry, academia, civil society organisations, the
media and the public about the threats and vulnerabilities facing our privacy,
identity, trust, security and inclusion in the rapidly approaching world of
ambient intelligence.
In the AmI vision, ubiquitous computing,
communications and interfaces converge and adapt to the user. AmI promises
greater user-friendliness in an environment capable of recognising and
responding to the presence of different individuals in a seamless, unobtrusive
and often invisible way. While most stakeholders paint the promise of AmI in
sunny colours, there is a dark side to AmI as well.
This book illustrates the threats and
vulnerabilities by means of four “dark scenarios” and then identifies safeguards
to counter the foreseen threats and vulnerabilities. The authors make
recommendations to policymakers and other stakeholders about what they can do to
maximise the benefits from ambient intelligence and minimise the negative
consequences.
Emile Aarts, Vice President of Research at
Philips, said, “This book is mandatory reading for anyone who is professionally
active in the field of ambient intelligence, as it can be seen as a landmark
contribution to the discussion on AmI. After almost ten years of development,
ambient intelligence can now live up to its expectation that it can change
peoples’ lives for the better through its novel user-centric technology. In the
end, however, this will only work if we can settle the ethical issues that are
connected to it.”
Gary Marx, Professor Emeritus at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said, “The book is the most informative
and comprehensive policy analysis of new information and surveillance
technologies seen in recent decades. Those wishing to praise a book often say,
‘essential reading for anyone concerned with …’ But I would go beyond
that strong endorsement to say Safeguards in a World of Ambient
Intelligence should be required reading for anyone
concerned with public policy involving new communications and surveillance
technologies.”
Safeguards in a World of Ambient Intelligence has been
prepared by a consortium of partners from five European countries following
several years of research on the emerging brave new world of ambient
intelligence. It is based on a project sponsored by the European Commission,
although the views expressed in the book are those of the authors alone and are
not intended to reflect those of the Commission.
The principal editors and authors of the book are David
Wright, Trilateral Research & Consulting, UK; Serge Gutwirth, Vrije
Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Belgium; Michael Friedewald, Fraunhofer Institute
for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI), Germany; Elena Vildjiounaite, VTT
Technical Research Centre of Finland; and Yves Punie, Institute for Prospective
Technological Studies (IPTS), European Commission JRC, Spain. The other authors
are P. Ahonen (VTT), P. Alahuhta (VTT), B. Daskala
(IPTS), P. De Hert (VUB), S. Delaitre (IPTS), R. Lindner (ISI), I. Maghiros
(IPTS), A. Moscibroda (VUB) and W.Schreurs (VUB).
For more information about the book, the table
of contents and free access to the first chapter, see
http://springer.com/978-1-4020-6661-0.
D. Wright, S. Gutwirth, M. Friedewald,
2008, 292 p., Hardcover €114.95; £ 88.50;
$159.00
ISBN:
978-1-4020-6661-0
For interview requests or questions about the
contents, please contact:
David Wright
Trilateral Research & Consulting,
tel: + 44 207 244 7284
and/or
Michael
Friedewald
Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research
(ISI),
+49 721 6809 146
For review copies in
Joan
Robinson
Springer
For review copies for all other countries,
please contact:
Marion Wagenaar
Springer