In a not-so-far-off future, many of the objects that we interact with on a day-to-day basis will have internet-connected functionality and communicate with each other.¹ Your smart fridge might tell you when you are low on butter and suggest a brand that it can order for you and have delivered to your door.² It might one day ask you if you would like it to take care of all your grocery shopping based on its knowledge of your food preferences, health goals and the state of your fridge.³ Your smart mirror might advise you on what style of jeans will flatter your figure, and execute the purchase of these jeans at the sound of your spoken command. On a particularly hot day, your self-driving smart car might let you know that you are about to pass an ice cream shop. Or it might have eye-tracking sensors that detect that you are getting tired and tell you the coordinates of the nearest coffee shop.⁴

Collectively, these smart objects are known as “The Internet of Things” (IoT). In combination with artificial intelligence (AI) innovations, IoT is likely to open up unprecedented opportunities for businesses to collect and analyze consumer data and communicate directly with consumers.⁵ The development of IoT is already well underway in the form of items such as wearables,⁶ electric toothbrushes,⁷ baby monitors,⁸ thermostat systems,⁹ coffee machines,¹⁰ toys,¹¹ and home security systems.¹² Many homes now have voice-activated virtual assistants, such as Google Home and Amazon Echo that have internet connectivity and can be linked to other smart devices in the home.¹³ Interestingly, smartphones are not generally thought of as IoT devices themselves. Yet, they play a large role in IoT ecosystems, since most IoT devices can be controlled through an app on a smartphone.¹⁴

Looking further into the future, IoT objects may become more human-looking, express emotions, and communicate in a human-like way.¹⁵ This subset of IoTs is commonly referred to as robots and could undoubtably be used for a range of commercial communications. The future might be populated by robots that will function as caregivers,¹⁶ housekeepers, companions,¹⁷ and shop assistants.¹⁸ Robot financial advisors are already operating in the marketplace, helping consumers to make financial decisions, and so too are rudimentary robot waitresses.¹⁹ Robots can also be in animal form—there already exists a Japanese-made cuddly seal invented to soothe and engage people with Alzheimer’s.²⁰

IoT devices have potential for doing much good in the world. They can increase convenience, enhance the quality of life, and even improve our health.²¹ Indeed, a disease-detecting smart toilet is currently under development²². The toilet can sense multiple signs of illness through automated urine and stool analysis.²³

However, IoT also holds plenty of potential for consumer harm. Legal scholars examining the impact of IoT on consumers have thus far been concerned primarily with consumer harms related to privacy and data security.²⁴ This article throws light onto a novel, but equally important, concern of the challenge of regulating consumer harm caused by misleading and excessively manipulative marketing in an era of pervasive IoT. This type of consumer harm already exists in the regular online world but will be greatly exacerbated in a world of ever-present IoT objects. IoT dramatically expands the times and places where it is possible for businesses to communicate to consumers and potentially mislead them.²⁵ It also allows businesses to utilize and share a far greater depth of data than is possible from merely tracking our web browsing in regular online environments. Artificial intelligence (AI) can analyse the mass of real-time data collected from IoT systems in order to understand individual consumer behaviour and deliver targeted, persuasive marketing messages.²⁶ The persuasion becomes more powerful if some of the IoT objects of the future begin to look more human-like, talk to us with a natural-sounding voice, display human-like mannerisms, express emotions, and mimic friendship.²⁷ This article demonstrates where and why the current legal regimes that protect consumers from misinformation will struggle to operate effectively in a future of ubiquitous IoT. It also offers some suggestions for the way forward. Current laws prohibit a person from engaging in misleading or deceptive practices in commerce, or from using false advertising.²⁸ In an IoT future there might not be a “person” doing the misleading (it could be a robot driven by black-box AI systems), and there might not be any obvious “advertising” (the messages might be delivered by a cuddly pet IoT dinosaur chatting to your child.) The communication might not even be “misleading” or “deceptive” so much as surreptitiously manipulative. For example, your IoT robot companion might seem like a friend; she might know how to push your emotional buttons, know your deepest desires and be able to automate your purchases by your mere utterance of assent. Currently, manipulation of this kind is not subject to any legal limits. In an IoT future, it is going to become increasingly difficult to identify who can be held liable under current laws and who should ideally be held liable. The new ways of marketing may also lead us to question what types of communication should be prohibited and raise issues as to how to effectively enforce laws. These “who,” “what,” and “how” questions are relevant worldwide, and no jurisdiction has yet fully identified the span of problems, let alone begun to reframe the laws to tackle them. The questions are of relevance to the regulation of regular internet advertising on our computers and smart phones. However, it makes sense to tackle the questions through the lens of a future envisioned IoT advertising environment where the seriousness and scale of the problems is likely to be so much greater. Much of this paper deals with problems that are difficult to predict exactly and are futuristic in nature. For that reason, the call for law change is not urgent. However, recognizing the problems and beginning to think about solutions is a vital first step. Part II of the article examines how IoT is likely to transform advertising and commercial communication. Part III gives an overview of the current legal approach to protecting consumers from being misled, deceived and manipulated. Parts IV to VI of the article examine the “who,” “what,” and “how” questions that arise when contemplating the challenges of regulating communication to consumers in an age of IoT. It also offers some tentative ideas for reformulating legal regimes to more readily meet these challenges.