Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to regulate the use of interconnected sensor technology in the UK private sector.

The Government recognises that the internet is increasingly a greater aspect of citizens' daily lives, such as through the growing prevalence of Internet of Things (IoT) devices. We recognise that compromised internet-connected devices can result in many forms of harm to the individual and the wider economy, and as such, we take the security of these devices very seriously. In recent months we have been focusing attention on securing connected ‘smart’ devices for use in the home.

In May 2019, the Government launched a consultation on proposed regulation for consumer internet-connected devices. This advocated for a minimum security baseline centred around mandating the top three guidelines of the Code of Practice for Consumer IoT Security, published by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport in October 2018.

We are now working through the wide array of responses to the consultation to further refine our policy proposals and will publish a formal consultation response and final regulatory proposal later this year.