Privacy

Smart City

Report: Cities Falling Behind on Security and Accessibility in 'Smart City' Tech

While cities around the world are introducing tech tools to improve services and increase their efficiency, many have failed to implement appropriate privacy and security protocols.

July 22, 2021 - Smart Cities Dive

Body Scanners

EU Could Ban Facial Recognition Tech in Public

The European Union is preparing to take a strong position in the global debate surrounding privacy and data rights.

January 22, 2020 - Reuters

United States from Space

Study: It's Not Hard to Connect Anonymous Data to Specific Individuals

People have had to take it on faith that data anoymization was adequate to the task of protecting privacy of individuals. Recent research suggests such faith was misplaced.

July 27, 2019 - CNBC

Security Camera

Once a Surveillance Secret, Palantir Manual Becomes Public

The secret manual for the use of facial recognition and data collection software company Palantir was made public thanks to a FOIA request. It includes instructions on how to find a complete account of a person's movements.

July 17, 2019 - Motherboard

Security cameras on a building

The Dangers of Facial Recognition Software

Facial recognition software has the possibility to change public life completely. Countries and cities should be careful to consider the consequences of adopting the technology.

June 26, 2019 - The Guardian

Wireless Internet

4 Regulatory Complications of 5G Infrastructure Development

The implementation of 5G Internet infrastructure raises fundamental questions about how private companies operate in the public realm. Don't expect easy answers.

May 9, 2019 - Kayla Matthews

Ikea in Brooklyn

IKEA Report: Many Americans Seek Solitude in Their Cars

An international survey from IKEA finds fewer Americans feel at home in the place where they live.

October 30, 2018 - Fast Company

California

California to Regulate Security of IoT Devices

A recently approved California bill will set a legislative standard in the U.S. for basic Internet of Things security.

October 5, 2018 - Iot Times

Autonomous Vehicle

Europe Slaps Data Collected by Cities

Cities collecting personally identifiable data, by the government or through any third party, are responsible to abide by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) rules, just like any other organization collecting data.

March 23, 2018 - Cities of the Future

Drone

Internet of Things Brings More Surveillance and Vulnerabilities to Cities

Too often, smart city technology is described as an innocuous tool, but Adam Greenfield argues the technology acquiring this data will be used to distribute city resources, an inherently political act.

June 10, 2017 - The Guardian

Security cameras on a building

Op-Ed: Facial Recognition on Transit Goes a Step Too Far

Despite its insistence that the technology would only target criminals, Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) should reconsider using facial recognition software to address crime. The potential for abuse may be too high.

February 27, 2016 - The Dallas Morning News

Cities Should Stop Electronic Warrantless Surveillance

From ALPR cameras mounted on garbage trucks to IMSI catchers such as Dirtboxes and Stingrays, local authorities have increased exponentially the amount of electronic surveillance, with little regard for the basic principles of privacy.

December 17, 2015 - Cities of the Future

Crowd

It Is Now Next to Impossible to Reside Anonymously in a Big City

It is now next to impossible to reside anonymously in a modern city. Why? Because data anonymization itself is almost impossible without using advanced cryptography. Our every transaction leaves a digital marker that can be mined by anyone...

December 1, 2015 - Cities of the Future

Private Cellphone Data and the Next Frontier of Urban Planning

A survey of the quickly broadening reach of data about the movement of traffic reveals the next step necessary to achieve congestion nirvana: unfettered access to private cell phone data.

January 28, 2015 - Next City

Mileage Fee Worries in the Golden State

California's mileage fee pilot program legislation is now law. Dan Weikel of the Los Angeles Times raises two concerns drivers have regarding the switch to a mileage-based fee from a gas tax: privacy and fairness.

December 9, 2014 - Los Angeles Times

Oil and Water: Connected Cars and Privacy

Jeremy Cato pens an editorial on the dark side of connected cars—the data necessary to track and integrate so many card will allow unprecedented invasions of privacy.

March 3, 2014 - The Globe and Mail (Toronto)

Big Brother

Jittery Places, Reducing the Right to Just Be

You’re being monitored. Everything you are is tracked and stored in a data centre. How do you feel about these digital and physical forms of regulation? Do they make you jittery? Do you feel more secure? Are you a wiser consumer?

January 29, 2014 - Steven Snell

Comprehensive Survey of L.A. Pools Dips Its Toes in Privacy Debate

A project by two researchers to map and measure all of the swimming pools in the Los Angeles basin is revealing not just for the information collected, but in how it exposed the ways in which personal privacy is being eroded by digital technology.

December 2, 2013 - Los Angeles Times

Answers on the Nation's First VMT Fee Law

With Oregon set to implement their vehicle-miles-traveled (VMT) fee program, Streetsblog's Tanya Snyder provides answers to ten questions, including the privacy challenge, that she posed to ODOT’s Jim Whitty, architect of the program.

October 14, 2013 - Streetsblog Capitol Hill

Making the Camera Your Friend

The role of photography in urban planning should not be underestimated. Visual communication is incredibly important and powerful. Michael Heater provides a guide to using photos to remember, inspire, and create.

October 14, 2013 - APA

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