Copy the following link for free access to the first chapter of this
title: http:
//www.springerlink.com/content/j23468h304310755/fulltext.pdf
This book is a warning. It aims to warn policy-makers, 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 (AmI).
In the near future, every manufactured product - our clothes, money,
appliances, the paint on our walls, the carpets on our floors, our cars,
everything - will be embedded with intelligence, networks of tiny
sensors and actuators, which some have termed "smart dust". The AmI
world is not far off. We already have surveillance systems, biometrics,
personal communicators, machine learning and more. AmI will provide
personalised services - and know more about us - on a scale dwarfing
anything hitherto available.
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.
This book aims to illustrate the threats and vulnerabilities by means of
four "dark scenarios". The authors set out a structured methodology for
analysing the four scenarios, and then identify safeguards to counter
the foreseen threats and vulnerabilities. They make recommendations to
policy-makers and other stakeholders about what they can do to maximise
the benefits from ambient intelligence and minimise the negative
consequences.
