In the beginning of 2017 KPMG published a report about connected cars. The title of this report is: “Connected cars are here to stay”. KPMG thus sees a great future in the concept of connected cars. But what is a connected car actually and is this innovation favourable?

A connected car is a car that is connected to the internet via a mobile data stream. This car collects all kinds of data, such as driving behaviour or gas usage. Via the internet connection this data can be send to multiple parties, like the car company or the driver itself. The data can be used to optimize the performance of the car or to predict malfunctions. Additionally, the data can be used to prevent traffic jams or to predict when an accident happens. All this information can be very useful for certain parties and can really change the car industry.

It is expected that in 2020 there will be 381 million connected cars on the road. The market potential for the connected car is huge. Forecasts say that the market of the connected car will be worth 15 billion USD. Most big car companies already invest in the connected car. Part of the reason for this is the valuable a connected car can provide. With this data the recall rate of a company can for example be reduced.

Besides all the benefits of the connected car, there are also some dangers. The data a connected car provides can be very harmful if this falls in the hands of criminals. Criminals can for example use this data to see whether people are home or not. Also, it gets more likely that a car can be hacked. With the connection to the internet, a car is vulnerable for a hacker attack. This can get really dangerous if cars will drive itself in the future. A hacked car can then purposely cause an accident. The chances that these things happen are very low. It is, however, good to also take the dangers of a connected car into account.

KPMG. (2017). The connected car is here to stay. Retrieved from https://assets.kpmg.com/content/dam/kpmg/nl/pdf/2017/sector/automotive/the-connected-car-is-here-to-stay.pdf

Meola, A. (2016, December 20). Automotive Industry Trends: IoT Connected Smart Cars & Vehicles. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/internet-of-things-connected-smart-cars-2016-10?international=true&r=US&IR=T

There has been a lot of talks about facial recognition lately. While it can be seen as an interesting innovation, a lot of people have concerns about the invasion of their privacy. This is completely understandable. People feel like the information gained with facial recognition can be used for something bad. They don’t want to live in a society where you’re being watched 24/7, like in George Orwell’s 1984. This book shows a dystopia of a society being fully controlled by the government. Even though the book was published in 1948, it’s been very popular the last couple of years. The reason for this is the fear people have for their privacy and the power of a government. Facial recognition definitely invades the privacy of people and could also be used by a government to control. Although the latter is not really likely, it could still happen.

Facial recognition can, however, also be used to protect a society. Already since the attacks on 9/11 the US government has been looking for ways to use facial recognition to track down terrorists. Even though the constitution didn’t fully allow it, implementation was thought to be necessary to prevent future attacks (Bennet, 2001). Apparently, 16 years later, this thought didn’t change. Since the first of august the German government started to experiment with using facial recognition to prevent terrorist attacks. This experiment takes place in a train station in Berlin. About 250 people voluntarily registered for this experiment. The faces of these people are scanned and tracked, to see whether the software can keep track of when these people enter or leave the train station (Huggler, 2017). Besides Germany, the UK is also experimenting with this technology. Here the software is already used to scan faces for known suspects (Watson, 2017).

The society could thus also benefit from the use of facial recognition. However, the technology to prevent terrorist attacks is still in development, there is no way of knowing how useful it is going to be in the future. Also, the threat still exists that this technology will be misused by the government. In the end the question, whether facial recognition is a blessing or a curse for society, still remains.

Sources:

Bennett, K. A. (2001). Can Facial Recognition Technology Be Used To Fight the New War Against Terrorism?: Examining the Constitutionality of Facial Recognition Surveillance Systems. North Carolina Journal of Law & Technology, 3(1), 151-174. Retrieved from http://ncjolt.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/10_3NCJLTech1512001-2002.pdf

Huggler, J. (2017, August 2). Facial recognition software to catch terrorists being tested at Berlin station. Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/08/02/facial-recognition-software-catch-terrorists-tested-berlin-station/

Watson, R. (2017, July 20). Face recognition tested to monitor terrorist suspects. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-40675918