“Smart” Tech Coming to a City Near You
While public awareness of smart cities was limited — most of the study respondents had never even heard of the term — researchers found that Americans have concerns about the ethical implications of the data being collected, particularly from marginalized communities.
One of the technologies participants had significant concerns about was gunshot detection, which uses software and microphones placed around a neighborhood to detect gunfire and pinpoint its location, rather than relying solely on 911 calls to police.
The technology is used in more than 135 cities across the U.S., including Chicago, Sacramento, Philadelphia and Durham.
Though respondents acknowledged the potential benefits to public safety, they worried that the tech could contribute to racial disparities in policing, particularly when disproportionately installed in Black and brown neighborhoods.
Some said the mere existence of smart city tech such as gunshot detectors or security cameras in their neighborhood could contribute to negative perceptions of safety that deter future home buyers and businesses.
Even collecting and sharing seemingly innocuous data such as air quality raised concerns for some respondents, who worried it could potentially drive up insurance rates in poorer neighborhoods exposed to higher levels of pollution.
In both interviews and surveys, people with lower incomes expressed more concern about the ethical implications of smart city tech than those with higher income levels.
In Singapore, for example, thousands of sensors and cameras installed across the city track everything from crowd density and traffic congestion to smoking where it’s not allowed.
Copenhagen uses smart air quality sensors to monitor and map pollution levels.
A 2016 report from the National League of Cities estimates that 66% of American cities had already invested in some type of ‘smart city’ technology, from intelligent meters that collect and share data on residents’ energy or water usage to sensor-laden street lights that can detect illegally parked cars.
Proponents say the data collected will make cities cleaner, safer, more efficient. But many Americans worry that the benefits and harms of smart city tech may not be evenly felt across communities, says Pardis Emami-Naeini, assistant professor of computer science and director of the InSPIre Lab at Duke University.
That’s one of the key takeaways of a survey Emami-Naeini and colleagues presented April 25 at the ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2023) in Hamburg, Germany.
Nearly 350 people from across the United States participated in the survey. In addition, the researchers conducted qualitative interviews with 21 people aged 24 to 71 from underserved neighborhoods in Seattle that have been prioritized for smart city projects over the next 10 to 15 years.
The study explored public attitudes on a variety of smart city technologies currently in use, from air quality sensors to surveillance cameras.
While public awareness of smart cities was limited — most of the study respondents had never even heard of the term — researchers found that Americans have concerns about the ethical implications of the data being collected, particularly from marginalized communities.
One of the technologies participants had significant concerns about was gunshot detection, which uses software and microphones placed around a neighborhood to detect gunfire and pinpoint its location, rather than relying solely on 911 calls to police.
The technology is used in more than 135 cities across the U.S., including Chicago, Sacramento, Philadelphia and Durham.
Though respondents acknowledged the potential benefits to public safety, they worried that the tech could contribute to racial disparities in policing, particularly when disproportionately installed in Black and brown neighborhoods.
Some said the mere existence of smart city tech such as gunshot detectors or security cameras in their neighborhood could contribute to negative perceptions of safety that deter future home buyers and businesses.
Even collecting and sharing seemingly innocuous data such as air quality raised concerns for some respondents, who worried it could potentially drive up insurance rates in poorer neighborhoods exposed to higher levels of pollution.
In both interviews and surveys, people with lower incomes expressed more concern about the ethical implications of smart city tech than those with higher income levels.
