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20 April 2021
To be really smart, cities need to maximize privacy and security
20 April 2021

Cities are getting smarter. The smartest among them deploy a host of information communication technologies from high-speed communication networks to sensors and mobile phone apps in order to boost mobility and connectivity, supercharge the digital economy, increase energy efficiency, improve the delivery of services and generally increase welfare. Becoming “smart” typically involves harnessing troves of data to optimize city functions—from more efficient use of utilities and services to reducing traffic congestion and pollution—all with a view of empowering public authorities and residents. Notwithstanding global enthusiasm for hyper-connected cities, this futuristic wired urban world has a dark side. What’s more, the pitfalls may soon outweigh the supposed benefits.    

In the latest edition of Foreign Policy, SecDev Group’s Robert Muggah and Greg Walton find that “smart” is increasingly a euphemism for “surveillance”. Cities in at least 56 countries worldwide have deployed surveillance technologies powered by automatic data mining, facial recognition and other forms of artificial intelligence. Urban surveillance is a multi-billion dollar industry with Chinese and U.S.-based companies such as Axis, Dahua, Hikvision, Huawei, and ZTE leading the charge. Despite their promise to improve human welfare, there are growing concerns about the ways in which supercharged surveillance is encroaching on free speech, privacy and data protection. But the truth is that facial recognition and related technologies are far from the most worrisome feature of smart cities. 

Across North America and Western Europe, tensions over smart cities can be distilled to concerns over how surveillance technology enables pervasive collection, retention, and misuse of personal data by everything from law enforcement agencies to private companies. Debates frequently center on the extent to which these tools undermine transparency, accountability and trust. There are also concerns (and mounting evidence) about how facial recognition technologies are racially biased and inaccurate. This helps explain why in the two years since San Francisco banned facial recognition technologies, 13 other U.S. cities have followed suit. By contrast, in China, racial bias seems to be a feature, not a bug—patented, marketed, and baked into national policing standards for face recognition databases. What is more, Chinese companies are rapidly bringing their technologies to global markets. 

But a narrow preoccupation with surveillance technologies, as disconcerting as they are, underestimates the threats on the near horizon. Smart cities are themselves a potential liability—for entirely different reasons. This is because many of them are approaching the precipice of a hyperconnected “internet of everything,” which comes with unprecedented levels of risk tied to billions of unsecured devices. These do not just include real-time surveillance devices, such as satellites, drones, and closed-circuit cameras. By 2025, there could be over 75 billion connected devices around the world, many of them lacking even the most rudimentary security features. As cities become ever more connected, the risks of digital harm by malign actors grow exponentially. One of the paradoxes of a hyper-connected world is that the smarter a city gets, the more exposed it becomes to a widening array of digital threats.

So what is to be done?

Smart cities need to be digitally safe cities. To design-in digital safety, city authorities must become sensitive to how hyper-connected systems can engender new insecurities even as they increase efficiencies for most citizens. Cities, companies and residents must work together to “design-in” security across multiple verticals - governance, infrastructure, commerce and services. After all, cities are where these issues converge and where the potential for harm is most acute. They are complex ecosystems where disruptions in mobility, electricity, or water supplies can generate devastating cascading effects. 

City leaders need to get more involved in debates on digital security. Cities should be at the forefront of setting national and subnational standards for the roll out of municipal IoT systems. City leaders need to put pressure on state and national authorities to mandate that smart city infrastructure includes basic safeguards such as strong authentication and encryption. These mandates should be enforced locally through strict procurement practices. Moreover, city leaders need to ramp-up networking and sharing lessons learned.

Smart cities need digitally literate citizens. Prevention begins with awareness. Many actual and potential digital harms can be reduced through basic awareness and precautionary measures. Digital literacy is critical for city managers, their staff and third party vendors to better understand the vulnerabilities that arise where digital and physical infrastructures overlap and interact. In the longer run, digital literacy also improves the quality of democratic governance since residents are better able to participate in shaping how smart cities evolve to meet local needs. 

Cities need to get better at measuring the impacts of digital transformation on quality of life. Smart cities need to balance cyber security, privacy and quality of life in settings that are undergoing rapid digital transformation. The ‘smartening” of cities can and should not come at the expense of safety, privacy or liberty. The failure to prioritize both human wellbeing and security in a world of exponentially increasing complexity is a monumentally dumb idea that smart city leaders can avoid.

Audits that assess digital safety and quality of life at the city level can help shape better decisions. SecDev is pioneering audits that map digital vulnerabilities, digital literacy and participation; track surveillance exposure; assess the effectiveness of data collection and retention practices on safety, privacy, democracy; and gauge the digital quality of life in smart cities.

For more information about SecDev’s city level Digital Safety and Quality of Life audits, contact us at SmartCity-QOL@secdev.com
About SecDev

SecDev is an agile research and innovation firm helping clients navigate digital-geopolitical, geospatial and geodigital risk. SecDev builds value through innovation in strategic foresight, data science and urban analytics. SecDev’s team is fluent in technology, global in scope and results-oriented. SecDev empowers clients, such as national governments, technology companies and international organizations, to make informed choices that deliver value in the digital-urban age. To learn more, visit http://www.secdev.com.

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