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How to use IoT devices to keep children safe?
IoT (Internet of Things) devices are transforming our lives rapidly. These devices are everywhere, from our homes to industries. According to some estimates, there will be 10 billion IoT devices by 2020. By 2025, the number of IoT devices will grow to 22 billion. IoT has found its application in a range of fields, including smart homes, industrial processes, agriculture, and even healthcare. With such a wide variety of applications, it is obvious why IoT has become one of the hot topics in recent years.
Several factors have contributed to the explosion of IoT devices in multiple disciplines. These include the availability of low-cost processors and wireless connectivity. Moreover, open-source platforms have enabled the exchange of information in driving innovation in the field of IoT. Compared with conventional application development, IoT has developed exponentially because its resources are open-source. Before explaining how IoT can be used to protect children, a basic understanding of IoT technology is essential.
What are IoT devices? IoT devices are those that can communicate with each other, without the involvement of humans. Hence, smartphones and computers are not considered as IoT devices by many experts. Moreover, IoT devices must be able to gather data and communicate it to other devices or the cloud for processing.
However, there are some fields where we need to explore the potential for IoT. Children are vulnerable, which makes them an easy target for criminals and others who mean to harm them. Whether in the physical or digital world, children are susceptible to crime. Since parents cannot be physically present to protect their children at all times; that’s where the need for monitoring tools is obvious.
In addition to wearable devices for children, there are plenty of parental monitoring applications such as Xnspy that monitor children in real-time and provide live updates. These tools ensure that the child is safe. While wearable devices ensure that the child is not physically in danger, parental monitoring apps ensure that the child is safe online.
As more children spend time on their smartphones, it is no surprise to see them becoming the primary target for frauds and scammers. Moreover, there is also a chance of children becoming targets of cyberbullying because pedophilia, catfishing, and other crimes are prevalent on the internet.
Are these solutions enough? We need to find IoT solutions for ensuring our children’s safety, both online and offline. How can we keep children secure in these times? We need to come up with new and innovative solutions that keep our children safe. The solutions provided by IoT can help keep our children safe in schools as well as homes.
The potential of IoT The benefits offered by IoT devices are numerous. For one, parents can remotely monitor their children without being too overbearing. Thus, children have space and freedom to become independent while having a safe environment to do so.
Moreover, parents do not have to worry about their children’s safety. IoT devices can provide 24/7 updates about a child. Monitoring apps such as Xnspy go a step further in providing information regarding a child’s smartphone activity. As IoT devices become more sophisticated, it is only a matter of time before we have devices with increased battery life. IoT devices such as location tracking can provide accurate details regarding a child’s whereabouts, so parents do not have to worry.
While wearable devices are great to have, these are often not enough, when ensuring a child’s safety. Hence, to provide a safe environment for children, we need other methods. Many incidents have shown that schools are just as susceptible to attacks than any other public place. Therefore, schools need to adopt safety measures that keep children and teachers safe. In this, IoT devices can be used to detect threats and take necessary action to prevent the onslaught of an attack. The threat detection system can include cameras. Once the system detects a threat, it can notify the authorities, including law enforcement agencies and hospitals. Devices such as smart locks can be used to lock down the school, including classrooms, to protect children. In addition to this, parents can be informed about their child’s safety, receive immediate alerts on threats. It would require the implementation of wireless technology, such as Wi-Fi and sensors. Thus, schools need to create a budget that is specifically for providing security in the classroom.
Smart homes have made it possible to turn off lights with a clap, or telling your home assistant to do so. Likewise, IoT devices can be used in a house to protect children. In a home, IoT devices such as cameras can be used to provide parents with 100% visibility when looking after the children. When parents aren’t in the house, cameras and other sensors can be used to detect if any suspicious activity takes place. Other devices, such as smart locks connected to these sensors, can lock the doors, windows, and bedrooms to ensure that the kids are safe. Likewise, there are plenty of IoT solutions that can be introduced to keep kids safe.
Just as bad as they are good Sensors in IoT devices create an enormous amount of data. The safety of the data is a crucial factor. The data gathered on a child falling into the wrong hands is a risk. Hence, precautions are required. Any data data breached from your IoT devices can be used to determine behavior patterns. So one must invest in providing safe IoT solutions that do not breach user privacy.
Often IoT devices connect to the Wi-Fi to transmit data between devices. Unsecure networks that deal with unencrypted data pose certain risks. Such networks are easy to eavesdrop. Hackers can use such network points to hack the system. They can also introduce malware into the system, making it vulnerable. Moreover, cyberattacks on devices and public networks such as those in schools can lead to data breaches and theft of private data. Hence, an overall plan for protecting the network and IoT devices must be in effect when implementing an IoT solution for the protection of children.
The potential of IoT devices to protect children in schools and homes is yet to find innovation. We need more effort to protect the network that connects IoT devices. Moreover, the data generated by an IoT device can fall into the wrong hands, causing more trouble. So this is one area where IoT security is essential.
via: https://opensourceforu.com/2019/10/how-to-use-iot-devices-to-keep-children-safe/
作者：Andrew Carroll 选题：lujun9972 译者：译者ID 校对：校对者ID