The potential dangers of Ambient Intelligence
Imagine a future where tiny computers or sensors adapt to you, and things change to the way you want them to be - just because you are there. Ambient Intelligence (AmI), a concept for making better use of the technologies of the future, could make life easier for all of us. This science-fiction future is not merely the imagining of a futurist, but a concept that can be realised, and developed not by Arthur C Clarke, but the European Commission's own Information Society Technologies Advisory Group (ISTAG). The concept imagines a wireless, seamless world where gadgets and communications are interoperable and compatible to give the consumer the benefits of technology - but without the complexity. The technology could be so seamless that you could buy a car with your mobile phone, and not require a driving license because the car 'knows' your driving status. While the benefits of such a convenient world are clear, Safeguards in the World of Ambient Intelligence (SWAMI), an IST project funded under the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6), has examined potential 'dark' scenarios that could be exploited in an AmI world. The group has identified five areas that could be under threat from AmI: privacy; identity; security; trust; and the digital divide. Privacy - if privacy is the right to regulate information about yourself, then how private is a world where facts about yourself could be known before you set foot in a room? 'In an AmI world, we can expect to be under surveillance ('transparent') wherever we go because the permanent and real-time registration and processing of our presence and behaviour is the precondition - the 'code' - of ambient intelligence,' reads the report. Identity - whether through your computer, your SIM card, chips in your clothes, or through your physical attributes, your identity could be reduced from your own expression of yourself, to a digital mapping, less flexible than how you may want to be seen. Security - greater integration of different technologies could give rise to new ways to exploit those technologies. 'Protecting confidentiality, integrity and availability is more difficult in a ubiquitous computing environment than in traditional networks,' reads the report. To give an example, if you were communicating with your bank while on the move, the signal between your bank and you may switch between different networks and network suppliers seamlessly. Could you trust your confidential information to be protected while making these moves? Trust - linked to security, just how far could you rely on these systems to give accurate and reliable services? The Digital Divide - How can an AmI system really work if there is not the infrastructure to support it? 'In general, it seems that AmI will narrow some gaps while widening existing or creating new ones at the same time,' reads the report. The report makes three general recommendations on legal frameworks for an AmI environment, and a larger number of specific recommendations to address the issues raised by an AmI world. The SWAMI team recommends that the software code which will underpin AmI technologies should be regulated along with 'an adequate legal framework, independent from the code', to maintain standards and privacy. Their second recommendation - Caution or Precaution Through Opacity: 'In our opinion, most of the challenges arising in the new AmI environment should be addressed by transparency tools (such as data protection and security measures). Transparency should be the default position, although some prohibitions referring to political balances, ethical reasons or core legal concepts should be considered too,' reads the report. The final general recommendation suggests that lawmaking should be decentralised: 'we recommend respect for the diversity and plurality of lawmakers. The solutions produced by the different actors should be taken into consideration and be actively involved in policy discussions. Development of case law should also be closely observed. Consulting concerned citizens and those who represent citizens (including legislators) at the stage of development would increase the legitimacy of new technologies,' reads the report. Finally, the report lists a number of specific recommendations to preserve human rights, from surveillance to electronic implants, on data protection, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), security, liability and burden of proof. AmI does sound like science-fiction, with ideas apparently culled from a Terry Gilliam film, the technology is viable - not now, but soon. RFID technology is already used to monitor products on shelves, notably by retail giant Wal-Mart, and the SWAMI consortium believes this technology could underpin much of the future technology. The SWAMI consortium is made up of five partners: the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research in Germany, the Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT Electronics), Free University of Brussels in Belgium, the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS), Spain, part of the EU's Joint Research Centre, and Trilateral Research & Consulting in the UK. The project began in February 2005 and the first two reports can be found on the SWAMI website, 'The brave new world of ambient intelligence: A state-of-the-art review' and 'The dark side of ambient intelligence'.
Countries
Belgium, Germany, Spain, Finland, United Kingdom