Tag Archives: Deanna Contreras

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Talking toys bring connected Christmas closer

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Many parents will have noticed the invasion of talking, AI-enabled toys hitting the shelves this holiday season. Once inanimate, mute objects on which we had to project personalities, movement and more, the latest high-tech toys are increasingly learning to think for themselves – with sometimes worrying consequences.

One of the most talked about recent examples of such a toy is Barbie. The beloved companion of many, Barbie recently became more interactive than ever with the launch of a Wi-Fi connected version that listens, replies and learns over time. As anyone who has heard Barbie’s suggestion to hold a “pizza party!” will well know, the power of speech isn’t new to the doll – the latest release however is branching out considerably further, combining Wi-Fi and ‘machine learning’ to be able to have entire conversations with playmates.

Much like Siri or Cortana, Hello Barbie is mic’d up and connected to a server in the Cloud which analyzes what is said to the doll and then selects an appropriate response. Learning as she goes along, Barbie mimics a real life friend by remembering details that she can drop into future replies.

While this might be every kid’s dream, it’s likely to be a real cause for concern for the more privacy and security conscious parents among us.

Much of the technology we use on a daily basis is now equipped to ‘listen’ to us in a similar manner in order to facilitate easier, more human interaction. As already mentioned, the most obvious example of this are personal assistants like Siri and Cortana which sit on our mobile devices and activate at our command. An easy enough use case to understand. What can be alarming however, is when technology not traditionally designed to listen to us is enabled to. Smart TVs, for example, have been in the press recently due to their ability to listen to conversations, capture the data and relay it to third parties. Even connected baby monitors have been called out due to their susceptibility to hacking.

As with any connected device, the debated risk is that Hello Barbie could offer an easier in for hackers attempting to intercept your Wi-Fi network. While ToyTalk which manages the toy’s cloud connection emphasizes the security measures it has taken, it also admits that ‘no device is 100% secure.’ On top of their security concerns, parents might also wonder what is happening to the data being captured as their child chats away to Barbie. Is it being stored anywhere? Yes. Is anyone listening to it? Yes. Will that child end up being bombarded with advertising for other talking toys?  Hopefully not – according to ToyTalk, it does share recordings with third-party vendors, but only to improve their products. In any case, it sounds like any secret told to Barbie in confidence won’t stay that way for long!

Whether you like it or not, talking toys could be here to stay. This year, Elemental Path launched CogniToys – talking and listening dinosaurs enabled by IBM’s Watson, the famous artificially intelligent computer able to ‘understand’ human language. Another example is Ubooly, a cuddly bear described as the ‘Learning Toy that Listens’, becoming interactive once connected to a smartphone or tablet. Though only two examples, it’s just a matter of time before more of these toys hit the shelves.

So how do you feel about toys that listen? Will you be letting Barbie say hello to your child? With Christmas just around the corner, it’s worth considering the security implications of the latest high-tech toys available this season, and how connected you want your child to be.

AVG

From Beacons to Dash – a glimpse at the future of retail and IoT

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According to a new research by Juniper Research, retailers will invest $2.5 billion on IoT within the next five years — four times the investment being made in 2015.

Some of the biggest retail IoT investments are being made in location-based beacon technology. Bluetooth-based beacon technology, like Estimote, transmits location information from beacons to smartphones and allows retailers, once you’ve opted in, to track your whereabouts and communicate real-time via their own app. The retailers can provide customers with personalizedm relevant ads and other useful information.

Forgot your shopping list? No worries, you’ll be reminded of products when you enter the store based on your previous purchases, or access shared shopping lists, and receive relevant special in-store coupons and deals.

Target is among the growing list of retailers testing the technology. It launched a test of beacons in 50 stores. One of the features integrated in Target’s app allows it to push timely recommendations and deals in proximity to a shopper’s location.

For a glimpse of how beacons are taking root at retail, Mobile Commerce Daily recently profiled a pilot program at Illinois-based Niemann Foods’ County Markets. The 44-store chain’s launch of in-store beacons provide shoppers with personalized digital offers, location-specific coupons and in-store maps to streamline the purchasing experience.

The results have been positive, including coupon redemption rates as high as 50 percent, compared to a printed ad coupon industry average of below 2 percent, reports Nathaniel Jones, the electronic marketing manager at Niemann’s.

According to the 2015 Store Operations Survey by Retail Touchpoints, nearly 46% of retailers either now have or plan to use beacons in their stores. For now, most of the beacon programs are being deployed in pilots on a small scale as retailers try to understand how the technology can foster customer engagement. So far, analysts report that the biggest barrier to adoption is getting consumers to turn on the Bluetooth capability on their phones.

Now, in new developments at the other end of the IoT retail spectrum away from the store and more conveniently located in your own home comes the new Amazon Dash Button. The eCommerce giant has begun offering the Wi-Fi-enabled Dash buttons for its Prime customers to install in their homes to make it possible to re-order online without even needing to login to Amazon. The inexpensive (US$4.99) small plastic Dash buttons are designed to be placed throughout the home to make it easy to re-order anything from coffee to soap — from where you use it most — with just a press of the button. No need to hassle with a shopping list, Dash is on the case!

On the downside, the Dash service is still in early stages and currently has limited product availability. However, it is earning the support of major brands from Maxwell House to Clorox. And, for the near-term, Dash does not provide immediate gratification; you still have to await a typical Amazon Prime shipment and delivery timeframe of overnight or later, depending on the product availability. (But that may change with Amazon’s planned deliveries by Drones sometime in the future!)

Also on the downside, think of the results if a button-pushing happy child or a teenager plays with Dash? What to do with twenty bags of dog food delivered at your door?

Looking even further ahead to where retail IoT is headed, Time Magazine asks in its review of Dash: “What happens when consumption becomes even less of a conscious process — when, say, our smart cupboards and refrigerators, empowered to monitor what we’re using, start making buying decisions autonomously?”

Indeed. There are definitely a few things to be worked out about the future of IoT and retail in our lives. Chief among them, we believe, are privacy and security safeguards. All the new retail and other IoT technologies and services hinge on data — your data. They are feeding customer data and behavior back to retailers and their vendors to be tracked, analyzed and recorded.

Both the beacon apps and Dash are opt-in services, and consumers must give their permission and have a choice to use them or not. But increasingly with IoT, consumers will face the question: Are you more concerned with privacy or convenience?

And the same question is of supreme importance to businesses in their adoption of IoT. Business owners, small or large, have to gauge these new IoT opportunities for the potential and risks involved…not to mention the potential for annoying customers.

The IoT may prove to be the biggest game-changer since the Internet itself, with wide-ranging implications to society. And like the Internet before it, all of those implications and protocols that will be needed, aren’t yet known. It’s a brave new world and we all need to get ready for it.

At AVG, our prime concern is with privacy and data security, and that’s why we are involved at the industry level to protect them.  For example, we support the OTA IoT Trust Guidelines Framework, which was issued this past month. To read the full Framework Goals you can visit the OTA site.

AVG

California governor vetoes drone bill

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In the wake of increasing drone incidents, including the most recent highly-publicized crashes at the U.S. Open tennis tournament and the opening game of a newly renovated college football stadium in Kentucky, drones got a somewhat surprising defender last week: California Governor Jerry Brown.

Governor Brown last week vetoed a bill that would have barred drones from flying within 350 feet above a property without “express permission” of the property owners. Despite easily passing the state legislature, the bill was widely reported to have opposition by tech industry companies and trade organizations.

Brown said in his veto message that the measure went too far in its restrictions. The bill, which is SB142 by Santa Barbara Democratic Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, would have created a trespassing crime for operating drones within 350 feet above private property without the consent of the property owner.

In his official statement about the veto, Brown noted, “Drone technology certainly raises novel issues that merit careful examination,” and should be looked at “more carefully.” But in his measured response, he suggested the act would be a crime “whether or not anyone’s privacy was violated by the flight.”

Said the Governor, “This bill, however, while well-intentioned, could expose the occasional hobbyist and the FAA-approved commercial user alike to burdensome litigation and new causes of action.”

As industry observer news website Re/Code reported, one of the tech industry’s leading associations, The Consumer Electronics Association, was a vocal opponent of the legislation. Among CEA members are Amazon and Google, both of which are planning drone delivery services. And among other influential participants, Re/Code also reported that GoPro, which recently announced plans for a drone, was in opposition.

“Safe, responsible drone use will transform the way we do business — allowing these devices to assist in search and rescue and disaster relief missions, improve crop production and efficiency, and create safer work environments for infrastructure maintenance.” Gary Shapiro, the CEA president and CEO, said in his statement to Re/Code.

Drones are (literally) at the intersection of technology, security, and privacy. Unfortunately, some bad players have colored the drone issue to date. But there are benefits to be derived from drone technology: They can speed delivery of emergency supplies, they can provide great benefits to agriculture, and they can literally save lives. For example, in natural and/or manmade disasters, drones can be positioned to survey damage, locate lost hikers or disaster victims, and improve efficiency and safety of rescue teams.

There will no doubt be more legal decisions and bills involved. As Re/Code also noted:  46 different states have considered 156 different bills about drones this year. And as American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) policy analyst Jay Stanley recently said about drone policing,” It’s still a bit of a Wild West.”

But as Capt. Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger, the now-retired US Airways pilot that in 2009 managed to safely land his Airbus A320 passenger jet in the Hudson River, saving all 155 persons aboard, emphasizes: we need better risk management, better regulation of the recreational drone industry, and more enforcement of those regulations when drone operators do what he describes as “stupid, reckless, dangerous things.”

AVG

Preparing Us and Our Kids for Digital Playgrounds

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Recent research of parents in the United States, conducted by Harris Poll on behalf of AVG, shows the ubiquitous rise in the number of kids with mobile devices while exploring important issues in our digital family dynamics.

We found 51% of connected kids receive a device before the fifth grade.  With that level of smartphone, tablet and Internet access reaching into lower age groups, it’s clear that today’s schoolyards and playgrounds now extend to the online world.

As a new parent working in tech, I think a lot about the ever-increasing use of connected devices and social media in our families and its effects on us as parents. We are on the frontline of this new issue where the security and privacy of our kids is a major cause of concern. In the real world you can see who is bullying whom but online that’s not always clear.

Of course, it’s not just cyberbullying that we (parents and non-parents) need to be concerned about; but access to a lot of PG-rated and above material that is just one click away. As our new research indicates; unfortunately, many parents don’t monitor their kids’ online activities closely. Only half of parents of children aged 3-17 (51 percent) said they check their child’s activity weekly, one in five check it less than once a month or not at all (nearly two in ten) and just over half (56 percent) say they know the password to their child’s device.

Interestingly enough and coinciding with our research, another report surfaced last week on ABC’s Good Morning America about kids installing secret mobile apps that let them hide their online activities, like photos and texts. Yahoo Tech’s editor Dan Tynan, who was interviewed on the topic, gave this simple advice: turn off the ability to install apps without parental approval.

(Currently, our research suggests only four in ten parents have installed a parental block on their kids’ devices.)

Tynan’s recommendation echoes that of my colleague, AVG’s Sr. Security Evangelist Tony Anscombe, who offered his own sage advice to parents of school age children in a Back to School Tips column last week. Tony is also the author of the book “One Parent to Another,” an excellent resource which is available here.

My baby is less than one-year-old, so I’m a long way off from having to deal with many of these issues but I know my day is coming. I was particularly struck by a recent Parents Magazine article on the topic of “Parenting in a Fakebook World” that chronicled many of the pressures that start at an early age in raising a family in our Instagram-happy, Pinterest-perfect culture. If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend it.

Securing every family member online is a major focus for us at AVG and we will continue to devote a lot of time to understanding the dynamics and needs of digital families, as well as offering tools for help make the online world a safer one for our kids.

So, stay tuned for more here on www.now.avg.com.

AVG

The future of work-life balance and tech

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Many of us question the impact of technology on work-life balance, as our lives play out in the always on, always connected 24×7 workplace.

Now, in the heat of the late summer, the topic has become a hot one in the tech industry itself – from a controversial new New York Times expose that examines Amazon’s purported workplace culture to the highly-reported news of increased parental leave programs by key companies and, finally, a release of some annual  “top” ranked company lists.

First, a look at the expanded parental leave offerings unveiled this summer:

  • Netflix announced it is offering a year’s paid maternity or paternity leave to its employees.  Specifically, Netflix has put in place “an unlimited leave policy for new moms and dads that allow them to take off as much time as they want during the first year after a child’s birth or adoption.”
  • Microsoft said it would offer 20 weeks of paid leave to new mothers, up from its current 12 weeks paid and eight weeks of unpaid leave. New fathers will get 12 paid weeks, instead of four paid and eight unpaid.
  • Adobe said it would offer parents who are the primary caregivers 16 weeks of paid leave after the birth or adoption of a child – in addition to 10 weeks of paid medical leave following childbirth. That means a new mother could take a total of 26 weeks off — up from the current nine weeks.

Among offerings of other tech giants already in place: Google raised its paid maternity leave from 12 to 18 weeks in 2007. Facebook’s new parents receive four months of paid leave, as well as $4,000 in “baby cash.”

Analysts say the underlying goal of the newly updated parental leave programs is not totally altruistic,but are efforts for the companies to stay competitive in the super competitive Silicon Valley tech job market. They also expect that outside of the tech sector, little will change… particularly for startups and smaller businesses that cannot afford to provide equally rich programs.

While the new parental-leave policies of tech powerhouses are innovative, the U.S. is still playing catch-up when it comes to other nations. For example, the U.S. is the only developed country that does not mandate any paid leave for new mothers. (See Pew research on the topic from 2013 here.)  BTW, in most countries that offer paid time for mothers (a median of 5-6 months), their government picks up the tab and paternity leave is more limited (offered by only 25 of the 38 nations).

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and U.S. Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut are pushing for a new law that would provide 12 weeks, but not unlimited leave, in the U.S. under their bill, employees and employers would make small contributions and pool them so that workers can draw a significant portion of their pay while caring for a newborn or for other serious personal or family illness.

To be sure, advances that are taking place toward work/life balance in the U.S. aren’t only in the domain of Silicon Valley. In its examination of the 25 companies that have “the best” work/life balance in the U.S, Forbes Magazine cited more exemplary non-tech companies than tech examples.  Forbes’ criteria went beyond time-off to other considerations.

According to the Forbes list, the best company for work/life balance for the third year in a row, is non-tech giant Colgate/Palmolive. Among tech companies to rank on the list were Google, Nokia, Philips, Motorola, and Intel… You can access the list here. (The Forbes survey, conducted in concert with the job search engine Indeed, ranked companies with least 100 employees which hire primarily full-time workers. The list does not include government or military organizations, colleges and universities, nonprofits, or staffing agencies.)

The Forbes survey also notes that in 2015 work/life balance, flexibility is fast rising up the ranks in importance. Though the number one consideration for people is still pay, number two is location and number three is flexibility – even ahead of benefits.

In the end, though it may be a culprit when it comes to taking away from our work/life balance, technology is also a driving factor in helping make the balance possible…

And there lies a conundrum that we in the tech industry and all companies must all continue to work on.

AVG

‘InstaPolicing’: Police departments are monitoring social media

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The golden rule of social media is ‘think before you post.’ In the age of Instagram and living in the moment online, people sometimes forget how that one digital moment can now and forever be captured.

It happens to the best of us – and it is also happening to the worst of us, sometimes with real consequences.

In terms of the latter, social media has become a tool for law enforcement to fight crime almost since its inception. Now, Instagram photos have become a popular mechanism for helping police to track criminals who, you might say, are ‘selfie-incriminating’ themselves on social media.

The San Francisco Police Department, for example, has dedicated resources for monitoring Instagrams to track individuals of interest, and the program has yielded results.  Officer Eduard Ochoa, who has been SFPD’s “Instagram Officer” for a number of years, has monitored and tracked individuals who were on probation and observed them doing things in violation of their probation. In one case, a minor on probation posted photos of himself in possession of a firearm. The Instagram spottings allowed officers to perform a probation search, and in the course of the investigation firearms were found.

Recently, an appeals court ruled that those Instagram photos of the incident were admissible even though no one who was present when the photographs were taken testified. (You can read the court ruling here.) The individuals involved were also wearing the same clothes as they were in the Instagram photos when police arrived, which no doubt helped seal the deal.

The SF Police Officers Association’s newsletter singled out Ochoa and other officers for performing “an extremely intensive investigation using the most modern techniques provided by our new electronic age” to locate the suspect in a shooting.

“If the criminals are getting smarter and more tech savvy, so should the police department,” SFPD spokesman Officer Albie Esparza told a reporter for Marketwatch.

The Instagram officer is only one example of police using social media to fight criminals. Many departments across the country now use Facebook, YouTube and Twitter in police work. According to a 2013 social media survey from the International Association of Chiefs of Police, 96% of police departments were using social media in their policing, and more than 80% said it was helping solve crimes. (Of course, it works both ways, and the defense can find evidence of alibis on social media as well.)

Indeed, while social media usage is now commonplace in law enforcement, one item of concern is that guidelines and procedures to govern it may be lagging. According to a November 2014 study by LexisNexis, “Social Media Used in Law Enforcement,” 52% of the law enforcement agencies surveyed lacked procedures governing social media use. Further, Government Technology research found there is little training when it comes to social media usage by law enforcement departments.

Policies and guidelines for law enforcement using social media seem critical. As Police Chief Magazine reported in a 2013,  “Written policies will ensure that agency executives know what their employees are doing and why they are doing it, as well as protect citizens’ privacy and civil rights and liberties…Many agencies already have policies to protect civil rights and civil liberties. Agencies should include references to agency privacy protections when drafting social media policies to collect intelligence and investigate crimes.”

In Minnesota, where police used Instagram photos to make indictments in a weapons-for-sale scheme, ACLU executive director Chuck Samuelson noted: “The law has not caught up with social media and other technology used to share and gather personal information and even law-abiding citizens should be aware that their personal information is being collected by all sorts of organizations and can be used against them.”

It would seem, as in many aspects of our digital lives, vigilance and ongoing work needs to be done to keep pace with the technology innovation, in order protect us all – our rights, our privacy and our security.

(Note to Hollywood: There’s plenty of material here to create a new series, CSI InstaPolice.)