A Domestic Violence Dystopia: Abuse via the Internet of Things and Remedies Under Current Law (original) (raw)

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Tactics of domestic violence are nothing new. However, as with various other aspects of modern life, technology threatens disruption.

The increasing prevalence of Internet of Things (IoT) devices has given abusers a powerful new tool to expand and magnify the traditional harms of domestic violence, threatening the progress advocates have made in the past thirty years and creating novel dangers for survivors. An IoT device is a “smart,” stand-alone, internet-connected device that can be monitored or controlled from a remote location. They are cheap and increasingly common—the number of IoT-enabled devices in the world is already in the billions and expected to grow quickly. IoT devices allow abusers to overcome geographic and spatial boundaries that would have otherwise prevented them from monitoring, controlling, harassing, and threatening survivors.

Various advocates are finding ways to protect survivors, and the broader public, from these new dangers. In the domestic violence sphere, domestic violence service providers are creating resources for survivors that explain IoT-facilitated abuse and how to better secure their smart devices. In the technology sphere, consumers, businesses, digital experts, and the media are broadcasting the security risks of IoT devices. Unfortunately, significantly fewer outlets describe the legal remedies available for IoT-facilitated abuse.

This Note aims to bridge that gap. It demonstrates that IoTfacilitated abuse is a form of technology-facilitated domestic violence and explores how society can use current laws to address IoTfacilitated abuse. However, it also questions whether the existing remedies are sufficient and offers recommendations for legal and nonlegal changes that will better protect survivors of IoT-facilitated abuse and hold perpetrators accountable