Why is the Internet of Behaviors so important?

Internet of Behaviors (IoB) is one of the leading technological trends in 2021. According to Gartner analysts, private and public sector companies will gradually implement technologies to collect data about people from different sources.

What is the Internet of Behaviours (IoB)?

Internet of behaviors (IoB) is a concept that combines technologies of extensive data analysis, face recognition, and location analysis. The human body becomes a data platform in it. To collect information, brands can use the following devices:

• personal devices (smartphones, smart bracelets);
• implanted chips (for checking temperature, pressure, blood sugar);
• digital technologies (systems for recognizing faces or license plates);
• other sources (pages on social networks).

Internet of Behaviors (IoB) is a logical continuation of the Internet of Things (IoT) trend. The Internet of Behavior allows you to collect data about people in a single database. This information will enable you to create unique personalized offers and improve the user experience with the product.

The IoB integrates existing technologies such as big data, facial recognition, location tracking, financial or health information and links this data to relevant behavioral events such as purchases, health insurance, living standards, professional activities, family roles, and more. Organizations, companies, governments, and attackers can use this information to control consumer behavior.

Possibilities of the Internet of Behavior

Digitalization began 6–7 years ago. The technologies of the Internet of behavior can qualitatively change many areas of activity.

In personnel management, it will be possible to track the quality of employees’ work and assess what contribution each department, division, or specific employee makes to the company’s work.

CEOs in Europe and the US are already ready to chip their employees. For example, sensors implanted in the wrists can replace cards or access keys for employees, writes CNN Business, citing a Citrix survey. Executives are confident that this can increase productivity. The respondents predict that such technologies will become massively available by 2030 and become part of the IoB.

At the moment, companies mostly use IoT and IoB to observe and try to change our behavior to achieve the desired goal: usually shopping.

Marketers and behaviorists tend to agree that this personalization is the key to a service’s effectiveness. The more effective the service, the more customers will continue to interact with it and even change their behavior due to its impact.

The next stage in employee behavior management is the analytics of audio and visual data about their work.

Intelligent IP telephony is already capable of finding keywords in a conversation. It is assumed that at the following stages, it will be possible to analyze the voice’s intonation and body language to read non-verbal communication signals, for example, the client and the employee during video communication. The same technologies can help control the atmosphere among employees in companies for which contact hygiene is essential — insurance, audit, law firms. In such teams, the toxic or depressive behavior of one specialist can negatively affect the entire team.

Using technologies of Internet behavior can also change the fashion industry. With the help of new technologies, you can choose an individual wardrobe for a person. Then the concept of “fashion” may simply disappear.

New technologies of the Internet of behavior can change medicine. For example, during the coronavirus pandemic, many people learned a new word — saturation (the degree of oxygen saturation in the blood). Patients suffering from severe illness regularly measure this indicator. Most likely, wearable gadgets like smart watches will also learn to monitor them very quickly. The same can happen with other appliances. For example, subcutaneous chips will appear that record the temperature of the human body, the amount of sugar, leukocytes in the blood, and other parameters. Also, we are getting closer and closer to when the patient’s medical data will come to the attending physician in real-time, no matter where he is on the earth. Treatment will become more remote and objective.

Artificial intelligence can replace chemical technologists, accountants, medical personnel in many specialties, and people in about 50 other professions.

Is the Internet of Behavior security?

The global adoption of IoB has profound social implications. The critical problem of the Internet of behavior is the violation of personal safety. On the one hand, collecting digital data will help fight crime. So, license plate recognition systems make it possible to quickly receive information about speeding and identifying an accident’s culprits. On the other hand, the concept of data confidentiality is violated.

However, polls show that people are willing to accept the Internet of Things as part of their social life. According to American researchers Schoen Cooperman Research, 59% of US residents are optimistic about the widespread installation of face recognition systems. Surveys by the Security Industry Association (SIA) show that Americans are even more supportive of this technology in some cases. For example, 75% of respondents agree with the installation of face recognition systems at airports.

The IoB requires a change in cultural and legal norms established before the Internet and big data.

The Internet of Things does not collect data solely based on your relationship with one company. For example, an auto insurance company might view a summary of your driving history. For instance, for the adoption of the appropriate law, society decides that it is fair. But insurers can also scan your social media profiles and interactions to “predict” if you are a safe driver, which is a dubious and illegal move.

Importantly, it’s not just the devices themselves. Behind the scenes, many companies exchange data (for money) through their divisions or with other subsidiaries. Google, Facebook, and Amazon continue to acquire software that potentially connects the user of a single application across their entire online ecosystem, often without our permission. It poses significant legal and security risks, and there is little legal protection against these concerns.

There is no doubt that IoB has tremendous potential for organizations of all kinds and many benefits for individuals, but it also carries significant privacy and manipulation risks. Technology must be regulated for its full potential to be realized.

In conclusion

The Internet of Behavior is a new step in the Internet of Things (IoT). The idea behind IoB is that are not only things connected to the network on an ongoing basis, but also people. Moreover, it can be both “wearable devices” (for example, fitness bracelets or “smart” watches that track the pulse and location of the owner), and built-in, for example, subcutaneous chips that record a person’s body temperature, the amount of sugar or leukocytes in the blood, and so on. Ideally, such devices can control the emotional state and warn a person about specific actions’ thoughtlessness.

Accelerated practical implementation of developments in IoB on a national scale means profound changes in people’s lives.

First, there is the issue of security and privacy. If the technology embedded in a person is connected to a network, it can be remotely hacked and used against the owner. It may turn out that an intelligent defibrillator may not be salvation but a cause of death for the user.

Secondly, more and more decisions will be made without the individual’s participation, which means that he will not fully control his life. In the future, he will completely lose control over it.

If you want to implement Internet of Behaviors into your product, you can contact Sannacode specialists.