Vapouround magazine ISSUE 21 | Page 85

with fighting and bullying: “After receiving feedback from school administrators about the explosion of the vaping problem with young people in secondary schools, an advanced vape detection and alert system was [also] integrated into the system solution,” he said. PRIVACY, DATA MISUSE AND SAFETY One can’t provide an honest perspective on emerging tech and the increasing interconnectedness of the world without covering areas giving people pause. Human rights and pro-privacy groups have long warned of the risks rising from data misuse and encroaching surveillance. A report from the InfoSec Institute divided the security risks of smart vapes into three straightforward categories: (A) MONITORING USERS’ BEHAVIOURAL PATTERNS (B) INFECTION WITH MALWARE AND (C) COMMUNICATION BETWEEN DEVICES The report advises users to keep themselves safe by only using hardware supplied by reputable companies who can provide proof of security certification. It also encourages users to take advantage of settings which provide an opt-out and method for tracking and data collection, and power mods in a socket instead of personal computer. Perhaps the biggest drawback of the smart device right now is availability. New products always have limited distribution, and, like mech mods, their use may require a little more skill and experience than normal. But as we’ve seen before in business, the cutting edge takes the lead, and often the obscure ambitions of today are the norms of tomorrow. We have only seen the beginning of discussion about new ethical and logistical difficulties. VM21 | 85