The FCC is currently in the process of creating the “US Cyber Trust Mark”— a sort of “nutrition facts” for digital devices. If that sounds strange to you, think of all the different labels you rely on as a day-to-day consumer. I’m sure you’ve seen things like Fair Trade Certification Label, the USDA Organic Label, The Non-GMO Verified Label, EPA Fuel Economy Label (for gas, plug-in and electric vehicles) and even the Surgeon General’s Warning on products like alcohol and cigarettes. I know you’ve seen a Nutritional Facts Label. These labels come from a variety of industry groups, public-private partnerships, and government entities. Some labels are voluntary and others are compulsory. Today let’s dive into some government labels and learn about one in-the-works for smart devices.
Nutritional labels provide clear information about the contents of our food, guiding us to make healthier choices. As modern food processing made our meals increasingly complex, manufacturers began disclosing the ingredients and nutritional components, eventually leading to the FDA standardizing the now legally required Nutritional Facts Label in 1990. Similarly, the Energy Star Label helps consumers identify energy-efficient products, a program initiated by the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency in 1992. Though not legally required, this label offers a competitive advantage by highlighting products with lower lifetime costs and better environmental impacts.
Now in 2024, almost 10 years after Amazon released it’s Amazon Echo with Alexa, some of our digital devices might be getting some labels too!
The FCC is in the process of building a label that would be useful for quickly identifying the data capabilities of various IoT (”Internet of Things”) or “Smart Devices”. The video below contains a bunch of people discussing the need and “excitement” (in quotes because are they really excited or are they just nerds? #nerdlove) for the US Cyber Trust Mark. We’ve fast forwarded to the helpful animation on how it all will works.
In short, the U.S. Cyber Trust Mark would be a label on digital devices that summarizes what kind of data the device collects and shares along with a QR Code to a site with further information.
Now to begin with, these labels are optional not required so they are more closely related to The Energy Star program than Nutritional Labels. But we here at AbsolutelyNothing think it’s a great step to creating more informed consumers who can make choices that allow them to reclaim their digital footprints. So keep an eye out. The FCC voted to make these labels voluntary on March 14, 2024 so by the end of this year you might start seeing these labels on new devices you pick up. Shop smart and feel free to send me any you see in-the-wild!
We’ve been working hard behind the scenes on something similar but for the apps and software that we use. We can’t wait to share what we’ve built but for now it’s still a secret 🤫.
See you next week!
-Kyle