[LINK] InfoAge: Smart cities need smart councillors?

[Roger Clarke]

[ Local residents are portrayed as having swallowed misinformation.

[ The local Council's intended uses of technologies that have
considerable potantial for intrusive application are portrayed as being
harmless to residents and helpful to the effectiveness and/or efficiency
of Council-delivered services.

[ Unfortunately, the authoritarian response ('we obviously need to
expend more effort teaching these ignorant people') may not help.

[ The Council badly needs to substitute the notion of 'engagement' for
the idea 'education'. ]


Council shoots down smart cities conspiracies
Confirms mind control devices won't be installed in residents’ brains.
Casey Tonkin
Information Age
Feb 02 2023 09:01 AM
https://ia.acs.org.au/content/ia/article/2023/council-shoots-down-smart-cities-conspiracies-.html

People are connecting smart cities with conspiracy theories. Image:
Shutterstock

A city council in Adelaide’s northern suburbs saw rare protests this
week as local residents flocked to oppose the City of Salisbury’s
adoption of smart cities technology.

The council is rolling out CCTV cameras and sensors for bins and car
parks as part of its plans to modernise services.

Protestors were organised through a letterboxing campaign and on social
media where the No Smart Cities Action Group (NOSCAG) has baselessly
claimed local councils are creating an Orwellian surveillance state
complete with a social credit system enforced using surveillance
technologies like facial recognition.

In its meeting on Tuesday night, the City of Salisbury passed motions
reaffirming the council’s commitment not to use facial recognition
technology and addressed some of the various strange claims made by the
opposition groups.

“Council confirms that [it] does not support any mind control devices
being installed in residents’ brains,” one motion read.

“Council has not and will not support the rollout any adverse elements
referenced in the fictional novels, George Orwell’s 1984 or Animal Farm.”

Deputy Mayor Chad Buchanan said he was “horrified” by some of the claims
made against him and his fellow councillors.

“Council did discuss a few motions tonight relating to smart technology
and reaffirmed our position that we do not support the use of real-time
facial recognition software and that the LED lights won’t be used to
kill and maim people,” he said.

Councillor Peter Jensen – who thanked the protestors for exercising
their democratic rights peacefully – said there was clearly a need to
educate the community about the council's proposed technology usage.

“Given the level of misinformation that has been circulated throughout
the community, I’ll be working with Council to ensure that factual
information is provided by the City of Salisbury so residents are fully
informed,” he said.

Misinformation about technology has had known real-world effects,
including in places where 5G towers were destroyed because of unfounded
beliefs that the telecommunications infrastructure causes harm.

One resident told the ABC they were concerned about ongoing costs
associated with the smart cities plan and was seeking more information
about data governance.

“We are looking at the data records of this stuff, where is it going to
be stored?” they asked.

“Is it going to be onshore, is it going to be offshore, who's going to
get access to this stuff?”

As a concept, smart cities are generally about collecting and using data
to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of a city’s services.

They may involve sensors and cameras to measure how well public
facilities such as bike paths and park areas are being used, or they
could help automate ambient lighting.

The City of Salisbury said its CCTV cameras will be used to “help manage
occurrences such as graffiti, hoon driving and illegal dumping”.

Tom Zorde is a management consultant and chair of the ACS Internet of
Things Committee. He said it was important for cities to engage with
stakeholders before moving forward with smart cities proposals.

“A city is there to serve its citizens and it needs to properly engage
its citizens around the use of technology,” Zorde told Information Age.

“You can do smart cities well by monitoring infrastructure, providing
more reliable services, and ultimately lowering rates.

“But when it comes to cameras watching people as they walk down the
street, those people are a big stakeholder and should be engaged.”

The City of Melbourne has embarked on a public awareness campaign to
make sure its data collection regime is properly explained and accepted
by the community.

Google infamously failed to get its data-hungry smart city project
Sidewalk ahead in Canada after locals pushed back against the tech giant.

-- 
Roger Clarke                            mailto:Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au
T: +61 2 6288 6916   http://www.xamax.com.au  http://www.rogerclarke.com

Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd      78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA

Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Law            University of N.S.W.
Visiting Professor in Computer Science    Australian National University