Disadvantages of Smart Dust

One of the most glaring disadvantages (or controversies) of Smart Dust would be the invasion of people's privacy. Smart Dust can be used extensively for surveillance, monitoring and recording of people's locations, communications and activities[8].

For example, a company could use Smart Dust to track an employee all day, everyday and in real time[7]. The motes on a company employee could link with the company system and provide management with complete time records of every single one of the employees activities and how long they spent doing the activity[8].

For example, the motes could be used to track how long an employee spends at his desk, away from his desk, in the break room, in the washroom, in the parking lot, in the stairwell, etc. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Motes could even be used to track an employee's vital signs and act as tiny cameras hidden almost anywhere. Companies could hide motes with microphones anywhere in order to eavesdrop on conversations between employees as well[8].

It's quite clear that Smart Dust can be used for nefarious purposes as well as in the grey area of surveillance. Companies who use Smart Dust to monitor people or employees (even with good intentions) could easily slip into a legal trap if people being charging them with invasion of privacy. Court cases of this nature could damage the company's reputation and in extreme cases, the viability of the company as a whole[8].

References:

[7] http://smarterthandust.blogspot.com/2008/11/disadvantages-of-smartdust.html

[8] http://innovationwatch-archive.com/choiceisyours/choiceisyours.2006.12.15.htm