Smart City Developments Raise Concerns Over Data Collection, Usage

Developer L Star Ventures, in partnership with General Electric, is planning a smart city named Union Point in Weymouth, Massachusetts, 12 miles south of Boston. 

The rise of smart cities and the integration of technology into urban planning has caused some to raise questions of privacy, namely how the collected data will be used. Harvard Law School professor Susan Crawford says that many local governments have not considered private- and public-sector concerns deeply enough when working with smart city developers, The New York Times reports. “Once you’ve given a developer license to deploy total surveillance, with no public limitations, you’re done.” Kyle Corkum, chief executive of LStar Ventures says, “We will use data for the benefit of the group, not in a way to leverage the group.” 

General Electric will use Union Point as a laboratory for testing new products and as a showroom for working systems. Eric Gebhardt, the strategic technology officer at GE Power, said the community’s energy plan will include micro grid technology, renewable generation and power storage. The company will also install “intelligent” lighting — streetlights with sensors that can track sound, light and other conditions. The data can be used to monitor traffic, help drivers find parking spaces and alert law enforcement if a gun is fired.

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