San Diego cuts off all streetlight sensors over privacy concerns
Where next?
City Council rejected theinitial draft policy, calling for a surveillance ordinance to cover more types of technologies and to carry more weight than a policy. The City Attorney reviewed the draft ordinancerecentlyand requested further clarifications.
“The surveillance ordinance is going through the legal review process. It will go to City Council for approval this fall,” said a spokesperson for Council member Monica Montgomery Steppe, who is sponsoring the ordinances to regulate surveillance technology.
Ian Aaron, CEO of Ubicquia, toldCities Today: “We are committed to working with the City of San Diego to make the city smarter, safer and more connected, and we are in continuing dialogue with the city and city stakeholders to ensure the city’s needs are met.”
Making streetlights smart through the addition of sensors is agrowing trendin the US and elsewhere. Northeast Groupforecaststhat US$1.4 billion will be invested in smart streetlighting in the US over the next decade, and US$600 million in additional smart city applications.
The situation in San Diego also comes as several other cities are beginning to introduce stronger oversight of data-gathering technologies, particularly in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has increased debate about these systems, and in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Portland City Council recentlyunanimously votedto pass two ordinances that prohibit the use of facial recognition technologies by both city departments and private companies. In July, inspired by related initiatives in cities such as San Francisco, Boston and Helsinki, Londonannouncedit is developing an Emerging Technologies Charter – a set of criteria that digital innovations should meet if they are deployed in the capital.
Aaron said: “We believe that the surveillance and privacy policy initiatives [San Diego] is working to put in place with input from the community, City Council and the police will serve as a best practice for cities of all sizes.
“Ubicquia is extremely proud of the work we are doing with more than 100 cities across the US and Latin America to make communities smarter, safer and more connected.” He did not specify which are using the CityIQ platform.
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Story byCities Today
Cities Today is the leading news platform on urban mobility and innovation, reaching an international audience of city leaders.Cities Today is the leading news platform on urban mobility and innovation, reaching an international audience of city leaders.
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