  This chapter introduces the Accountability Principle and its role in data
protection governance. We focus on what accountability means in the context of
cybersecurity management in smart homes, considering the EU General Data
Protection Law requirements to secure personal data. This discussion sits
against the backdrop of two key new developments in data protection law.
Firstly, the law is moving into the home, due to narrowing of the so called
household exemption. Concurrently, household occupants may now have legal
responsibilities to comply with the GDPR, as they find themselves jointly
responsible for compliance, as they are possibly held to determine the means
and purposes of data collection with IoT device vendors. As a complex
socio-technical space, we consider the interactions between accountability
requirements and the competencies of this new class of domestic data
controllers (DDCs). Specifically, we consider the value and limitations of
edge-based security analytics to manage smart home cybersecurity risks,
reviewing a range of prototypes and studies of their use. We also reflect on
interpersonal power dynamics in the domestic setting e.g. device control;
existing social practices around privacy and security management in smart
homes; and usability issues that may hamper DDCs ability to rely on such
solutions. We conclude by reflecting on 1) the need for collective security
management in homes and 2) the increasingly complex divisions of responsibility
in smart homes between device users, account holders, IoT
device/software/firmware vendors, and third parties.
