The Internet of Citizens: a lawyer's view on some technological developments in the United Kingdom and India

This article aspires to constitute a useful tool for both Asian and European readers as regards some of the state-of-the-art technologies revolving around the Internet of Things (‘IoT’) and their intersection with cloud computing (the Clouds of Things, ‘CoT’) in both the continents. The main emerging legal issues will be presented, with a focus on intellectual property, consumer protection, and privacy. The cases chosen are from India and the United Kingdom, two countries that are conspicuously active on this front.
I will give an account only of (what I consider to be) the highlights of the IoT in India and the United Kingdom. With respect to India, the selected speculative prism is composed of net neutrality, smart cities, manufacturing, computer-related inventions, and a recent bill on the surveillance aspects of the world’s largest biometric database. In turn, I will look at the British context by analysing some (quasi) regulatory acts with a focus on privacy and consumer protection.