  What is IoT, and how does it raise security-related ethical concerns affecting search engines? IoT generally refers to the interconnection of “objects” on the Internet; these (networked and “intelligent”) objects can include webcams, printers, and other devices that are not easily identifiable, locatable, or accessible to users via conventional search engines (see, for example, Burgess 2018). So users might assume that since information about these objects would not be accessible via typical Internet searches, the objects would be fairly secure from network hackers. Many users might also be enamored by the kinds of conveniences they could enjoy if their “intelligent” objects were networked together. Consider, for example, a “smart home” where these objects could communicate with one another as well as with that homeowner’s mobile devices (and possibly also communicate directly with networked devices and applications embedded in the homeowner’s automobile). On the one hand, we can imagine that the owner of this home would be delighted if its “intelligent” refrigerator communicated with her while driving home to alert her that the refrigerator’s supply of milk is low. The refrigerator might also communicate directly with the homeowner’s smart phone to trigger an app designed to display the lowest prices for milk at nearby grocery stores. So, ordinary users could easily come to enjoy the kinds of conveniences made possible via their interconnected “intelligent” objects. On the downside, however, it is likely that these objects may not have an appropriate level of network security. Thus users could be vulnerable to having their objects hacked and also be subject to having personal information about them (vis-à-vis their interactions with these objects) acquired by unauthorized individuals and organizations, if search engines were indeed capable of discovering and locating their (non-sufficiently-secure) objects and devices.