Signal 1: Who Owns Smart-City Data?

The private sector plays an indispensable role in accelerating the development of smart cities, but their involvement also raises ethical concerns regarding the ownership and usage of data that is collected in public spaces. Public agencies have been collecting data since long before the concept of smart cities first came about, but that data has been (mostly) transparent and remained in the possession of democratically-elected officials.

However, the entrance of tech startups like Alphabet-owned Sidewalk Labs would shift control over public data into the hands of an industry that is currently being rocked by ethical scandals (e.g. Cambridge Analytica’s misappropriation of Facebook data). Even with self-policing measures, like Sidewalk Labs’ Responsible Data Use Policy Framework, smart cities introduce a host of new problems, like the inability to opt-out of the data collection process — a feature that exists (at least in theory) for social media users. Other critics question the sincerity of these start-ups and their promise to deliver a utopian future, expressing concern over the monetization of citizen data.

The purpose of these debates is not to determine whether or not companies like Sidewalk Labs should be included in the future of urban development. Instead, they ought to be used to anticipate obstacles and crises that might emerge as byproducts of integrating big data into our physical infrastructure. As evinced by the recent Senate hearings on Facebook’s data scandal, many top-level policymakers have an embarrassingly limited understanding of technology. But by maintaining an open and inclusive dialogue with technical experts and citizens alike, city-level officials can avoid repeating these mistakes and allow private-sector innovation to deliver on their promise of making cities smarter without compromising the privacy of the public.

Source: Bliss, L. (2018, September 7). How Smart Should a City Be? Toronto Is Finding Out. City Lab: https://www.citylab.com/design/2018/09/how-smart-should-a-city-be-toronto-is-finding-out/569116/