# Internet of Things The Internet of Things (IoT) is the extension of internet connectivity into everyday physical objects — thermostats, doorbells, TVs, speakers, locks, cameras, light bulbs, cars, appliances, industrial machinery, medical devices. Each is a small computer with [[Sensor]]s and a network connection, reporting data to (and taking commands from) a manufacturer's cloud. The promise is convenience and automation; the scale is enormous, with tens of billions of connected devices. ## Why it matters here The IoT is the physical infrastructure of mass ambient surveillance, and it is built one convenient purchase at a time — which is what makes it both politically potent and easy to overlook. **The surveillance dimension.** Every smart device is a [[Sensor]] feeding data to a corporate cloud. A smart speaker hears the room; a video doorbell watches the street; a smart TV logs what you watch (and some have been caught capturing audio or screenshots for ad targeting). In aggregate this is the raw material of [[Surveillance Capitalism]]. It also feeds the [[Surveillance State]]: Amazon's Ring doorbell network built data-sharing partnerships with thousands of police departments, effectively crowdsourcing a private camera grid that law enforcement can tap — a concrete example of consumer IoT becoming public surveillance. **Security and the "control grid" frame.** IoT devices are notoriously insecure — shipped with default passwords, rarely patched, and frequently conscripted into botnets. This genuine fragility, plus the always-listening reality of smart speakers, gives a factual core to the populist "they're watching through your devices" suspicion that elsewhere tips into conspiracy (see [[5G]], [[RFID]]). The honest version is mundane but real: you have installed a corporate-controlled microphone and camera mesh throughout your home and city. **Ownership.** IoT devices depend on the maker's cloud, so a company can disable features, end support, or "brick" a device remotely — sharpening the [[Right to Repair]] and ownership questions, since a "smart" product you bought can stop working when the seller decides. ## See Also - [[Sensor]] — the component layer IoT is built from - [[Surveillance Capitalism]] · [[Surveillance State]] — what the device data feeds - [[5G]] — the connectivity that scales IoT up - [[Right to Repair]] — cloud dependence as an ownership problem