White House rallies industry support for Internet of Things labeling effort

White House officials convened industry leaders, policy experts and government leaders on Wednesday to discuss plans for security and privacy standards on connected devices. Brandon Pugh, senior fellow and policy counsel at the R Street Institute think tank, said he left the meeting with the impression that more extensive privacy standards around data collection and sharing could also be considered as part of the rating system down the road. Pugh said the lack of cybersecurity in Internet-connected devices merits immediate attention. “As a consumer, you’re really just kind of taking a chance and hoping for the best,” Pugh said. A labeling program is “not perfect in every sense,” Pugh added, “but at least it would give consumers some level of knowledge that what they’re buying is secure.”