The Future of Privacy in Smart Cities
Strategically located CCTV Cameras, mega capacity hard drives, WIFI-enabled sensors, information collecting networks, and other sophisticated data collection systems are some of the tools used in the development of the emerging smart cities.
This constant surveillance is in a bid to track, manage, or reduce bad environmental habits such as noise, pollution, traffic congestion, you name it. What does this collection of aggregated and real-time data mean for your privacy?
As is the case with many digital solutions, smart city solutions have many complications. Though necessary, the access and transmission of data from multiple sources flash a red light on your privacy.
To give you a better understanding of what the smart city trends mean for you, I will discuss some of the steps taken towards a digitally enabled future, the privacy concerns around it, and how you can stay safe.
Here is a quick summary:
Global trends of smart cities and their benefits
Traffic management systems
Energy and resource management
Public safety solutions
City-wide WIFI
Digital communication systems
Waste management systems
Data collection and analysis in smart cities
Privacy concerns around smart cities data access and sharing
Sharing data with third parties
Wider exposure to cyberattacks
Uncertainty about the purpose of data
Who exactly collects data?
Lack of or weak privacy frameworks
The future of smart cities
A broader AI automation of city functions
Better resource management
Adoption of mechanisms to protect citizen’s privacy
Better privacy policies and considerations
Collaboration between the people and the government will be crucial
Now let’s get into the details.
Global trends of smart cities and their benefits
Here are some of the leading smart city moves sponsored by different city municipalities and governments across the globe. I will also tell you why they matter.
Traffic management systems
Time is an important resource, but the traffic congestion and the rapidly increasing number of automobiles make us all pressed for time whenever we are in the urban centers. The road infrastructure and traditional traffic systems are not helping much.
To address this traffic situation, municipals are adopting technologies that will help decongest the smart cities. These strategies involve the adoption of traffic control and analysis systems.
Traffic management systems use an integration of video detection and radar systems to detect and analyze traffic. The two tools use artificially driven software which enables real-time adjustment of signals.
Benefits of traffic management systems
Traffic management systems play an important role in decongesting traffic in the cities. This way, the transport networks can accommodate more automobiles.
The systems enable a smooth and uninterrupted traffic flow and with this, you enjoy a reduced time on the road. Commuters have a seamless experience, they get to their destinations in time.
This reduces the negative effects of congestion on an economy.
Traffic management gives real-time updates concerning what is happening on the roads, as a user, you are therefore able to make informed decisions about the best routes according to the updates issued regarding congestions or any accidents ahead. This way, you avoid getting caught up in the traffic.
Energy and resource management
Energy and resource management is crucial if smart cities intend to meet the energy demand now and in the future. This system is used to plan for the operations of the power machinery.
Energy management systems are based on techniques such as AI, stochastic programming, game theory, and so on. The models are used to assess a city’s most appropriate power generation systems for installation.
Through this analysis, the municipal authorities can choose between the right energy plants to invest in and to determine the most strategic locations for the investment.
The models also help in the identification of renewable energy resources that are available for exploitation.
Benefits of energy and resource management systems
If properly used, these systems can lead to a significant reduction in the energy consumption rate within a city’s population.
Energy and resource management systems also help in reducing environmental pollution emanating from power processes.
Public safety solutions
These are solutions aimed at ensuring that you are safe from any potential hazards within the smart cities. Public safety solutions include the installation of environmental sensors, video surveillance cameras, smart street lights, and the deployment of real-time aerial data collection tools, for example, drones.
These tools collect and relay real-time data about the environments that they are installed in.
Benefits of public safety solutions
With real-time data and information, the smart city authorities can respond to emergencies relating to public safety more promptly. For instance, in the event of a fire tragedy, firefighters can use the data gathered using a drone to know the exact location of the tragedy and act accordingly.
The systems also allow users to help crime investigation departments by sharing important information. This eases the crime mapping processes.
Smart street lighting help detect potential hazards like floods before they become lethal. With this situation awareness, the authorities can make prudent emergency decisions and or alert the public.
City-wide WIFI
Smart cities are also in a rush to bring you faster internet access by deploying city-wide Wi-Fi. The aim is to allow you access to better and faster internet connectivity.
For wide coverage, city-wide WIFI is installed using state of the art gadgets with a high load capacity. With this, the network system can handle many connected devices without affecting the speeds of the wireless connections.
Benefits of city-wide WIFI
Internet provision increases the comfort of smart cities' inhabitants; we are living in an era where we are all relying on the internet for pretty much everything. The ease of availability of this resource is convenient.
Citywide WIFI helps build an information-driven economy. It’s good to have development-oriented conversations between the authorities and the citizens.
Digital solutions are easily available. You can access online services from wherever.
Digital communication systems
Smart cities are setting up digital communication systems to allow a seamless flow of information between members of the public and the authorities.
Through the easy-to-integrate apps, the inhabitants of a smart city can participate in the local issues. They can give feedback, report any emerging issues, connect, and share available information resources.
Benefits of digital communication systems
The systems encourage citizens to collaborate with the local authorities.
Builds a good relationship between the inhabitants of a smart city thanks to the networking systems.
Easy and seamless flow of information.
Waste management systems
These are data powered systems that collect and send information about waste management within smart cities.
With the help of digital sensors, these systems can monitor waste systems allowing authorities to make informed decisions about separation and recycling.
Benefits of waste management systems
Promotes efficiency in the waste collection thus preventing an accumulation
Helps in the identification of recyclable waste within the smart cities.
Data collection and analysis in smart cities
The building of smart cities does not involve new technologies, it instead utilizes the already existing data collection and analysis systems.
First, the data collection systems are put in place, data is then collected and presented for analysis. With this information, the authorities can make informed decisions on the right projects to undertake.
The real-time collection and generation of traffic data enable urban planners to plan on matters such as urban landscaping, design town routes, and so on.
The CCTV analysis help to promote public safety. Persons of interest are easy to track down when there is sufficient data in the cities' database.
For a better analysis, smart cities collect data through different IoT equipment. Sometimes, this data is collected from different departments through different applications. In other instances, the municipals collaborate with data vendors in the private sector.
Privacy concerns around smart cities data access and sharing
Privacy is an inherent issue of concern revolving around data access. We all feel rightly concerned about the possibility of suffering privacy exposure. So, how are matters of privacy handled by smart cities? Do urban planners prepare adequately before rolling out the smart cities’ plans? Are there any anonymity measures put in place?
Let’s delve deeper.
Sharing data with third parties
Firms in the private sector and especially those dealing in technology-related products and services are key players in the smart cities initiative.
They offer services such as streaming of live data, data collection and hosting, and development of city-specific applications which are critical for the discussed city management trends.
Cities and governments may also share data with private entities to try and find local solutions or to build the private sectors' innovativeness.
We cannot overlook the fact that these private companies are also business entities. This presents a security concern because data is an invaluable asset with the potential of sparking out immeasurable controversies.
Wider exposure to cyber attacks
Many smart city initiatives revolve around internet connectivity and data sharing. For cybercriminals, wider connectivity means a larger target. For you, this may mean higher exposure to risks.
We have heard instances where government servers have suffered ransomware attacks. Resolving such attacks can be expensive. As an individual, losing your private and confidential data after an attack on a shared network can be devastating.
Uncertainty about the purpose of data
When you accept to share your data with an organization, it is because you imagine that the collected information will be used to serve you better. If you knew that, the data will be traded off for commercial purposes, would you still provide it? I bet not.
This is the uncertainty that data collection by smart city initiatives leaves consumers with. Will the information be used for the intended purposes only? That, this data may be shared with third parties spirals the suspicions even further.
According to this privacy research, many consumers tend to withdraw membership from organizations that share member’s data with third parties. To some consumers, opting out is a quick fix to avoiding exposure and unnecessary controversies.
Who exactly collects data?
Many consumers are also concerned about the actual entity that is in charge of collecting and storing data. Are there any privacy measures in place?
As earlier mentioned, smart cities may collect data from different departments and stakeholders. Some of the primary sources include internet service providers, medical organizations, telecommunication companies, companies in the banking sector, and search engines.
With all this information from the different entities, then your local government can (literally) track down every detail of your life. Not cool, right?
Unfortunately, many smart cities do not have data security policies in place, at least, not enough ones to convince consumers that the data collection and storage processes are safe and secure.
Lack of or weak privacy frameworks
This is more like a summary of all the concerns discussed above. Local governments, urban planners, and all other relevant stakeholders do not have defendable proof that they have privacy concerns of the city dwellers at heart.
If the protests by locals are anything to go by, not many smart cities bother about data privacy before rolling out the smart cities initiatives. If stretched to the extreme, monitoring by local governments can lead to a surveillance state. Now, who would want that?
The future of smart cities
Picture a first forward, what will smart cities look like in the next say 20-30 years? What do you prospect? Shall it still be about sophisticated data collection and analysis techniques, or will smart cities be people-privacy centered?
Here is my forecast for the future of smart cities based on various technologies and startup investments in the space as well as tech trend reports and entrepreneurial activities.
What will smart cities look like in the future?
A broader AI automation of city functions
City dwellers will have less to worry about because a good percentage of the city functions will be fully automated. Through AI-enabled systems, there will be prompt waste collection services, water supply management, and, public safety monitoring services among others.
If this is achieved, smart city dwellers will enjoy a safe and easy way of life.
Better resource management
Thanks to close monitoring of the cities, governments will be able to sift out useful resources from those that are not. For instance, they will be able to spot out urban spaces that are ideal parking lots, city squares, and so on.
With this knowledge, the governments will be able to strategize the location of public amenities in a way that utilizes all the resources optimally.
Adoption of mechanisms to protect citizen’s privacy
As data and privacy concerns continue to build up, citizens will campaign for and adopt mechanisms aimed at protecting their anonymity.
To avoid the surveillance that is akin to shared networks, many will go for anti-spying anonymity solutions such as staying private with a VPN. Virtual private networks (VPNs), secure a user’s data through an encryption technology that beats any form of censorship within a network.
Others may choose to unsubscribe from organizations that they think might be sharing their data with third parties or the government.
Better privacy policies and considerations
In the future, smart cities should work on changing the widespread notion that they are only concerned about general public safety, cleanliness, traffic management, and so on. The only way to change this perception is by carefully designing and putting in place protection that will safeguard the privacy of their citizens.
This is a prerequisite for the citizens to build trust in the smart cities’ trends. It will also be vital because we expect an increase in data harvesting in a bid to furnish the smart cities’ information database.
Collaboration between the people and the government will be crucial
Governments will enhance transparency by involving their citizens and considering their opinions in the decision-making processes. This will be done through public consultative forums at different levels through different forums and platforms especially online.
The discussions will bring together smart cities initiative stakeholders including third party companies and will go a long way into building public trust and gearing towards better development of the cities.
For better connection with the people, smart city authorities will have to accept that they might not have all the answers. At least not always. The involvement of more stakeholders will be a roadmap to a larger pool of ideas and quality decisions.
These are necessary for the development of a functional smart city.
Overall…
At the heart of a smart city's framework is the desire to marry the developments in IoT and ICT to improve the day-to-day lives of a city’s inhabitants.
The urban planner aims to provide the citizens residing within a city with; better communication channels, safety, transportation systems that flow seamlessly, energy and other resource management systems, better urban lighting, convenient parking services, and so on.
Some cities have made remarkable strides towards attaining their smart city visions while others are still at the draft stage.
As much as they appreciate the trends by the smart cities, many citizens have privacy concerns about data collection, storage, and sharing. In the future, smart cities must put into consideration the interests and concerns of the citizens.
The citizens must remain vibrant about their privacy concerns and make individual efforts to safeguard it from spies and cybercriminals.
With these considerations in place, future smart cities will be more lovable.
