A month ago the New York Times published a report detailing the ways in which domestic abusers have armed with smart home technology without knowingly explaining to their respective partners how to use them, such as doorbells, loudspeakers, thermostats, video surveillance equipment and sounds, all connected to the known "Internet of Things" to harass their partners.
This month the University College London research team published a list of resources for victims of domestic abuse specifically through the exploitation of the Internet of Things.
The list was prepared by the team of the University of Gender and the Internet of Things (G-Iot), with the help of the Consortium of Violence Against Women and Girls of London (VAWG) and Privacy International. Where the authors point out that the list of resources created this month will be updated regularly.
The 6-page document lists a series of tools and organizations that are intended to both inform victims about the Internet of Things (IoT) landscape of how to treat and use the technology they are trying to use. or they could be used as a tool for violence.
Melissa Gregg, director of Intel's research, gave an interview to the New York Times where she said:
"Men predominantly install smart home devices, which indicates a potential gap in knowledge about how this technology works from the beginning to the end, (although cases have been reported where the sexes change)"
But the UCL resource list aims to combat the knowledge discrepancies that may exist between genders, providing victims with the information they need not only to understand how smart things work, but also how they could be vulnerable to bad subjects, both in the case of men as well as women.
Some of the resources listed by the group that makes up this project, includes Technology First, a blog dedicated to technology, privacy and security in the context of partner violence, sexual assault and rape.
They also include sites such as Acces Now, which is a non-profit digital rights organization, which has a direct line of attention to the victim 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, where the people who attend the helpline have reported the increase in calls in the last year regarding the loss of control of their homes mainly due to the Internet of Things.
Devices connected to the Internet are usually sold cheaply and easily, which allows greater control over the home. But according to the account of several victims, mostly women, these devices also help domestic abusers to establish economic and easy power over their partners.
It is important to point out that although the technological advance and the innovation that this technology has had (IoT), it has been wonderful, we must also warn of the dark side that some people, both malicious men and women, could be taking. You have to stay always informed and not allow any of this to happen or keep happening