Internet of Things (IoT): Legal Issues, Policy, and Practical Strategies

The Internet of Things encompasses the ability to connect and direct almost any kind of mechanical system, whether it's automotive, medical, residential, or critical infrastructure. IoT technologies hold tremendous promise for our communities by making them safer and more efficient. As with any other technology, they also entail security risk, and the risks associated with IoT technologies must be aggressively managed. We can do so, with industry’s help, by working to leverage standards and liability and insurance mechanisms to ensure that IoT's foundational building blocks are secure and effective.

Increasingly, utilities are deploying smart grid technologies, wirelessly connecting thermostats to the utility to measure usage patterns and allow energy supplies to be adjusted, with precision based on need. Companies are working on clocks, kitchen appliances, and other household products that monitor consumer behavior to turn on your coffee machine moments before you wake up; warn you when you are low on supplies; order groceries for the week; and allow you to remotely operate your locks and lights so you need not be home to admit a visitor, or to check that your residence is secure. Regulating these various systems via network connectivity can add convenience and save money, but doing so can also arm malicious actors with an unprecedented ability to create chaos.

The issues that the book addresses include the use of IoT technology in connected cars, health tech, and unmanned aerial vehicles (aka drones); IoT and technological developments such as 5G and blockchain; the current state of laws and regulations relating to the IoT both in the United States and globally; risks associated with IoT devices, including security and privacy issues; how state attorneys general protect consumers in the IoT era; the impact of the IoT on intellectual property and insurance; guidelines for employers, including corporate counsel, regarding the IoT in the workplace; and the future of the IoT from the perspective of an MIT research scientist.

Christopher A. Suarez is a trial and appellate litigator at Williams & Connolly in Washington, D.C. He focuses generally on complex litigation, with an emphasis on technology, antitrust, and education matters.

Mr. Suarez’s technology practice spans both electronics and the life sciences, and comprises intellectual property litigation, licensing, the Internet of Things (IoT), cybersecurity and privacy, and other technology issues. He has represented a wide range of clients in high technology industries, including leading manufacturers of smartphones, tablets, IoT devices, and semiconductors, as well as clients in the oil and gas sector. Mr. Suarez has handled IP and technology cases before several U.S. District Courts, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. He has participated in international arbitrations of patent disputes and is a registered practitioner before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO).

Mr. Suarez is a member of the American Bar Association (ABA), the Federal Circuit Bar Association (FCBA), the American Intellectual Property Law Association, the Giles Rich American Inn of Court, and the PTAB Bar Association. Mr. Suarez was nationally recognized in the “ABA On the Rise—Top 40 Young Lawyer List” by the Young Lawyers Division. He is a Young Lawyer Fellow of the ABA Intellectual Property Law Section and serves as a committee leader in the FCBA.

Cindy Cwik is a partner with the San Diego office of Jones Day. She has extensive experience in complex litigation and class actions, including mass tort and product liability cases, consumer class actions, and environmental and securities cases. She has represented clients in multidistrict litigation proceedings, arbitrations, mediations, and trials. She has been selected seven times as a California "Top Female Litigator" by The Los Angeles/San Francisco Daily Journal. Cindy has considerable experience with scientific issues and expert witnesses, and she has had significant victories in high-profile matters involving scientific issues. She was featured in a front page article in The San Diego Daily Transcript, which described how her attention to scientific detail led to courtroom success. In one case, Cindy won motions to exclude the testimony of five of the plaintiffs' experts and had the claims of all of the trial plaintiffs dismissed. A journalist described Cindy as "formidable" and "the mastermind behind the team's savvy attack." The journalist added that Cindy's "step-by-step dismantling of [plaintiffs'] case was a study in discipline and focus." In another case, after a three-week evidentiary hearing on the science issues, she won motions to exclude the testimony of all seven of plaintiffs' medical causation experts and won summary judgment with regard to the claims of the 14 trial plaintiffs Cindy is the current Chair of the Executive Committee of the Yale Law School Association and the Co-Editor of the ABA publication Scientific Evidence Review. She previously served as President of the San Diego Chapter of the Federal Bar Association and as a Lawyer Representative to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference. Cindy is a frequent lecturer and has made presentations to many organizations, including the Association of General Counsel and the National Judicial College.

Lucy Thomson brings deep knowledge of legal and technology issues with complex emerging technologies; law enforcement, private sector, and government perspectives on challenging cybersecurity and privacy issues; a large portfolio of ABA publications she has authored; and experience as a proven ABA leader.

Ms. Thomson is the founding principal of Livingston PLLC, a Washington, D.C. law firm.

Through her unique background as an attorney and cybersecurity engineer, and work at the intersection of law and technology – as a white collar crime prosecutor and civil rights litigator in the Criminal and Civil Rights Divisions of the U.S. Department of Justice, senior principal engineer at CSC, a global technology company, and Consumer Privacy Ombudsman (CPO) in 35 federal bankruptcy cases – she is an authority on a broad range of critical cybersecurity and global data privacy issues.

Recently appointed the CPO in the Celsius Network case (S.D. N.Y.), one of the largest cryptocurrency bankruptcies, she is responsible for evaluating the sale of “assets” consisting of sensitive personal information and has overseen the disposition of more than 350 million electronic consumer records. Her assessment of the work of the consumer privacy ombudsman and privacy risks in bankruptcy cases is featured in Sensitive Personal Data for Sale in Bankruptcy—An Uncertain Future for Privacy Protection, in the Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law, 2017 Ed.

She has made significant contributions in the legal profession and inspired others through her leadership on the D.C. Bar Board of Governors (two terms), Bar Secretary, and President of the Women’s Bar Association of D.C. and its Foundation. She has been recognized by her peers for excellence in legal practice through her election to membership in the American Law Institute (ALI) and the ABA House of Delegates (since 2004) and as an elected Alumni Trustee of Phillips Academy/Andover.

This year she co-authored ABA Resolution 604 on Artificial Intelligence (AI) that was passed unanimously by the House of Delegates at the New Orleans mid-year meeting. She co-authored the election cybersecurity Resolution 118 and two prior cyber resolutions. She has spoken on dozens of ABA programs. She served as 2012-13 chair of the Science & Technology Law Section, and a member of the National Conference of Lawyers and Scientists at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) (2009-11).

Ms. Thomson is a founding member of the Cybersecurity Legal Task Force, an ABA Life Fellow, and has served on the Standing Committee on the Law Library of Congress and as ABA Advisor to the Uniform Law Commission. A prolific writer, she is co-editor of The Internet of Things (IoT): Legal Issues, Policy, and Practical Strategies and editor of the Data Breach and Encryption Handbook, and a contributing author on cybersecurity to America Votes! (4th Ed.), The Cybersecurity Handbook (3d Ed.), Homeland Security and Emergency Management (3rd Ed.), and Bioinformatics Law.

Internationally, Ms. Thomson served as a Legal Advisor to the United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT), the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).  For APEC, she focused on implementing the APEC Privacy Framework in Peru, Chile, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, and presented a report on her capacity-building privacy work at the senior officials meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Ms. Thomson is a frequent speaker at technology conferences such as RSA, the largest security conference in the world. Her understanding of technology as well as law has made her a go-to person for educating ABA members as well as the public on technology issues. Ms. Thomson received a Master’s degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in 2001, earned the CISSP and CIPP/US certifications, and holds a J.D. degree from Georgetown. Her awards for community service include the Heroines in Technology award from Women in Technology and the March of Dimes, and the highest alumni Distinguished Service Award from Andover. An avid sailor, she races sailboats on the Chesapeake Bay and at Martha’s Vineyard.