RIPE IoT Roundtable Meeting in Leeds

The RIPE IoT Roundtable Meeting took place on 21 September 2017 in Leeds and was attended by 30 community members. Here are the main points that were discussed at the meeting:

• Vendors and retailers are unlikely to follow attempts at standardisation. A trusted IoT label might work, but not for low-margin/low-cost devices.
• Some CPE ports should be open for advanced users only. The RIPE community could help by documenting some of the risk factors and fall-back mechanisms around and behind CPE. When blocking ports is not possible, manufacturers have the ultimate responsibility.
• IoT poses a safety issue. Regulation might not be the ideal approach in dealing with this, as it would take time to implement and would increase the entry burden for starters. In the meantime, providers should step up in helping to minimise risks.
• Assigning liability and working out who the data controller is is going to be a challenge. Insurance will take time to catch up.
• There was strong support for a discussion on the creation of an IoT Working Group at RIPE 75. The draft charter was reviewed as well as the agenda for the IoT session at RIPE 75.

A detailed overview of the meeting will be sent to the IoT mailing listnext week.