In IoT age , what is the future of privacy ?

In one word :  Bleak

Here is proof :

In the future, even your dish detergent will be spying on you 

 

Extract :

That’s the idea behind Water.io, a hardware company that’s working on a range of “smart caps” that keep track of how much stuff is left in a container.

The caps will tell you if you’re hydrating enough, track whether you’re taking all your pills — and, yes, put in orders when you’re running low on soap.

But in the end, it’s just one more way for retailers to collect data about your shopping and consumption habits.

Water.io CEO Kobi Bentkovski spelled out the vision in a new interview with Fast Company.

“We are enabling the brands of consumer packaged goods to get data from their products,” he said.

“The moment they know who their customers are, how customers are using a product, and when the product is going to run out is the moment they can compete with Amazon and the private brands of the retailers.”

Following persons / groups / authorities , have shown concern about the privacy of the mobile phone users who provide their Aadhar ID to TELCOs for e-KYC .

After visiting Water.io website, they may want to ask of themselves :

“  Under proposed DATA  PROTECTION  LAW , shall we ban Indian manufacturers of millions of

   Consumer Goods , from using this “ invasive “ technology ?

   And then, how can we stop Indian consumers from using imported consumer products using

   this technology ? “

·         Government Policy Makers

·         Supreme Court

·         COAI

·         DoT ( Telecom Ministry )

·         UIDAI

·         B N Srikrishna Committee

·         PM-EAC

·         PM-STIAC

20  Oct  2018

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs

Costing Plays a Key Role

Following news report appeared in Times Of India :

Costing plays a critical role in making a successful product  : Goyal  

Extract :

"In that sense, you ( ICMAI ) have a very important role to play , both as an institute and all your 70,000 members , to ensure that we prepare the country to manufacture , to provide services at the right cost for us, which is competitive, which adds value , which encourages more business  “ , said Goyal

He further said that "costing has been one of the most important element of success or failure and I can recall so many instances , when we have been able to make projects successful in the last four and half years , when we have kept focus on cost “

Also, Goyal said that one can make a fancy, high quality product with beautiful design but if the pricing is not competitive, then it will remain a pipe dream

 
Dear Shri Goyalji,

You have hit the nail on the head !

Unless we  manage to turn India, into a “ LOW  COST  ECONOMY “, we cannot compete in the looming age of “  Trade Wars “ ( aka , “ a dog eat dog “ battle of “ survival of the fittest “ )

And the Cost Accountants can help the manufacturers to analyze a PRODUCT COST into its following constituent “ Cost Of  ( Input …….. ) “ :

·         Money

·         Land

·         Machineries

·         Materials

·         Manpower

·         Energy

·         Compliance

·         IT / Communications

·         Transport / Logistics

·         Training / skilling

·         Systems / Procedures

·         Technology Acquisition…..etc

Once manufacturers get to know “ %age of each component of the cost in the total Product Cost “ , next question is :

“  How to go about reducing costs of each of these elements – without lowering product quality  ? “

Such a “ INPUT COST ANALYSIS “ would need to be carried out for each industry separately since the “ Input-Cost Percentages “ vary widely, from one industry to another

Eg :

·         Engineering industry may have “ Material Cost “ of 50 - 60 %

·         Telecom Industry may have “ Machinery Cost “ of 70 – 80 %

·         IT / BPO  Industry may have “ Manpower Cost “ of 60 – 70 %

I have no doubt that ICMAI is competent to carry out such an analysis every year and plot the results graphically to see which industry needs to lower its costs – and for which cost element

I believe it should be possible to develop a software which can carry out such an analysis automatically ( from Annual / Quarterly Reports ? ) and publish for viewing . May be there are many other sources from which such data can be compiled on a dynamic basis

It should also be possible to carry out such “ INPUT COST ANALYSIS “ for industries of countries which are competing with our own industries , in the export market

If for example, our garment exporters are unable to match the low prices being quoted by the garment manufacturers of Bangladesh / Philippines, such an analysis might reveal that their “ Cost of Money ( Bank Interest Rate ) “ and “ Cost of Raw Material ( Fabric ) “, is way below what our manufacturers have to bear

I suppose , some such “ INPUT  COST  ANALYSIS “ must be already happening for taking “ ANTI  DUMPING  DUTY  “ related decisions  

Such “ Business Analytics “ would provide very valuable inputs to the government Policy Makers for quick “ Course correction “

Dear Shri Amit Apteji  [ President , ICMAI  ]

 {   president@icmai.in  /  amit@levare.co.in  },

I urge you to forward this mail to the 70,000 members of ICMAI , asking for their views on ,

“  How to make India , a Low Cost Economy ? “

Please consider this project as your Institution’s own Corporate Social Responsibility [  CSR  ] initiative

I am sure they have many more – and concrete – suggestions beyond what they will find in my following blogs :

Level Playing Field ?    ………………………………………………………………………………..[  11 June  2016  ]

 

How to break the vicious circle ?   .........................................  …………….[  03 July 2016  ]

Teach them to fish   ……………………………………………………………………… …………… [ 05 Nov 2016  ]

Automation is Inescapable   ……………………………………………………………………………[ 30 Nov 2016 ]

Gist :

Reduce " Cost of Inflation " by limiting  " Annual Wages-Salaries Increases " to 75 % of

the  preceding year's GDP number ( ie: if GDP for 2015,  is 8 % , maximum salary /

wage increase  that can be granted on 01 April 2016 , will be 6 % ) . 

How much capital needed to create ONE job ?   …………………………   ……………[ 22 June 2017  ]

Solar Power at Re 1 / kwh ?   ………………………………………………………….             [ 29 Jan 2017   ]

Unlimited Power and around the clock   ………………………………………….             [ 29 July 2016  ]

Universal  Basic  Income   ……………………………………………………………….. ……………[ 20 Jan 2017  ]

Can Indian IT re-invent itself  ?   …………………………………………………….. ……………[ 03 Feb 2017  ]

HOW CHINA MAKES CHEAP ?   ……………………………………………………………………….[ 08 Nov 2014  ]

 

" BACK FACTORY " OF THE WORLD ?   …………………………………………………………..[ 09 Sept 2015 ]

 

 

How to Boost Economy    ………………………………………………………………………………[ 20  Sept  2017 ]

 

In a State of Denial ?   ………………………………………………………………………………….[ 22  Sept  2017 ]

 

What would happen ?   ………………………………………………………………………………….[ 29  Sept  2017 ]

 

Discovering the Obvious ?    …………………………………………………………………………..[ 30 Nov 2017  ]

 

Not Good Enough !   ………………………………………………………………………………………..[ 02 Dec 2017  ]

 

Saving Jobs : Creating Jobs   ………………………………………………………………………… [ 19 Dec 2017  ]

 

Free Electricity ? Possible   ……………………………………………………………………… ….[ 28  Dec  2017  ]

 

Of Interns and Apprentices   ………………………………………………………………………….[ 07 Jan 2018  ]

 

Whose Interest ?    ………………………………………………………………………………………..[ 26  Jan  2018  ]

 

Car Grave-Yard of World ?    ………………………………………………………………………   [ 14  Feb  2018  ]

 

Modiji’s ( incomplete ) Message !   ……………………………………………………………….  [ 13 Mar 2018  ]

 

A  TradeWar  Epidemic  ?    ……………………………………………………………………………  [ 22 Mar 2018 ]

 

Thanks  for  Speaking  Up  !   ………………………………………………………………………… [ 27 Mar 2016 ]

 

A  Robotic  Invasion  ?     ……………………………………………………………………………   [ 19  Apr 2018  ]

An Important Challenge ?    ………………………………………………………………… .[  01 July 2018   ]

 

The E Commerce Elephant    ……………………………………………………………………………[ 02 Aug 2018 ]

 

This email is being sent to “

·         The Cabinet Ministers

·         NITI Aayog

·         PM – EAC

·         PM – STIAC

·         Think Tanks

 

19  Oct  2018

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Something is better than Nothing !

DNA ( 19 Oct ) , for its following news report claims that its sources are , COAI , DoT and UIDAI :

Solving Aadhar puzzle : All you wanted to know   

Highlights :

·         SC order only prohibits issue of new SIM cards through Aadhaar eKYC authentication process.

·         Only if you want the mobile player to delete your Aadhaar data, you may submit fresh documents for KYC.

·         No. The service won't be disconnected at any point in time.

·         If any mobile user wishes to delink Aadhaar from existing mobile connection, they need to contact operator and provide other documents (voter ID, passport, PAN, driving licence) as prescribed under DoT guidelines.

Of course , this falls short of saying :

“ Dear Mobile User ,

TELCOs are prohibited from “ insisting “ ( ie: coercion ) on Aadhar based e-KYC for a NEW subscriber,

BUT

If you ( new subscriber ) wish to “ voluntarily “ provide Aadhar based e-KYC to your Mobile Service Provider ,

·         you may do so

·          and the TELCO may accept such proof

·          and UIDAI shall continue to VALIDATE such requests “

Before I got to read DNA this morning , I posted in LinkedIn as follows :

Aadhar based e-KYC by TELCOs

15th Oct ( deadline set by Supreme Court ) has come and gone and TELCOs are still waiting for DoT for a clarification

They don't think UIDAI has any final authority on the subject

Let us hope that DoT comes out with the following clarification which I have been advocating since Supreme Court order :

"Consensual sex between two consenting adults is NOT a crime and therefore , not ILLEGAL .

In much the same way , if a mobile user voluntarily gives his Aadhar detail ( for e - KYC ) to a Service Provider, who in return , provides a Service , then there is nothing illegal in that “

 For exact mechanism to ascertain the " VOLUNTARISM / CONSENSUALISM , " read :

Who will bell the Cat ?

19  Oct  2018

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs