Product Liability - Internet Of Things

Connecting everyday physical objects to the Internet is changing the way we live and do business. But our legal regimes of civil liability, which were not developed with IoT in mind, have yet to be properly tested. The coming year is as good a year as any for that to happen, as intelligent devices continue to experience ever-broader adoption.

The challenge for the courts is to determine who is responsible for intelligent devices when things go wrong, as compatibility issues become more commonplace between technologies, leading to more devices in an interconnected world exposed to growing security challenges.

Until now, the courts have shown interest in IoT devices only insofar as the information they contain can be used as evidence. Last year an applicant tried to rely on his Fitbit wrist device to establish he suffered from sleep deprivation.