Can the smart city be ethical with its data?

Source: ARUP Published: January 2021

A world of increasingly self-aware buildings and transport, receptive to our every preference and wish, seems to promise a bright, sci-fi future. But as city governments and other actors embed all manner of sensors and data-gathering infrastructure in the public realm, new ethical challenges are emerging. 

The recent problems encountered by social media giants are instructive. Where a decade ago, people unquestioningly shared every thought and photo, now there’s more suspicion. The dawning realisation that ‘if you don’t pay for the service, you are the product’ and a series of large-scale privacy breaches are making people wary of who knows what about them. For city governors and politicians, this is a good moment to stop and consider the ethical structures they have in place for their use of public data.

The addition of a data dimension to existing technology is another potential risk. CCTV is well established in many cities and largely accepted. One can imagine city leaders presenting the addition of facial recognition software as a way to promise a reduction in street crime… but without public debate and consent, you might also stoke fears of an eventual police state. 

Meeting the ethical challenge

Technology cannot resolve our ethical quandaries. Public debate is vital to legitimise the ethical use of city data to which they contribute. Although the challenges around the use of data are still evolving, I believe a few key principles can already be defined:

1. Invest in governance. For cities, ethical digital governance will require investing in new skills and leadership, resourcing a team. As it stands, few cities are fully resourced to manage and control the new data gathered from the citizens they serve. Cities need to define a top-level strategy that includes policies on privacy and the ethical use of data. 

2. Make privacy a priority. ‘Privacy by design’ as well as ‘security by design’ should be embedded in all services delivered by city government. The public should have the ability to give explicit and informed consent to data collection in the public realm.

Click here to read more

Photo by Benjamín Gremler on Unsplash