Next week, I’ll be speaking on a panel at this event at Algonquin College. If you happen to be there, please say hi.

I’ll be speaking about Big Data — what it is, why it’s important and the privacy-related challenges associated with it. In preparing for my remarks, I started reading a new paper published by the Federal Privacy Commissioner’s Office this week on the Internet of Things. The paper can be found here: if you’re interested.

The paper's pretty lengthy, and there’s a fair amount of good information in it about how IoT is progressing,  especially in the retail sector and in various technologies for the connected home. Some of the examples they cite are quite remarkable and only a few a years ago would’ve been thought of as simply science fiction.

Clearly there are many privacy-related challenges with the advance of this type of technology. I suppose that can be said about just about any new technology but IoT seems to highlight where we’re going on a larger scale. And, when we think about the millions of ways these new big data sets will get analyzed, it makes you think of all the “what ifs?” and “holy cow, there’s a pattern in that?!” scenarios.

I hope we have the right laws and enforcement models in place to ensure that, as we move down this road, we do so in a way that protects the fundamental right of privacy. But, in truth, we are also willing to trade off here and there for certain benefits or conveniences of a super-smart home. We are getting wired like never before, which was perhaps not contemplated when these laws were created.

Ok, enough of that. I’ve got to go upload my Fitbit stats, turn down my connected thermostat, and watch my Apple TV.

Have a great weekend.