Street surveillance

In San Diego, ‘Smart’ Streetlights Spark Surveillance Reform

Tech-laden lamp posts are fixtures of the international “smart city” landscape; cities in Europe and Asia have rushed to install streetlights equipped with features that can monitor traffic, weather, and other urban phenomena. It’s not uncommon for them to drift into the hands of law enforcement. Fears of China’s AI-powered surveillance “panopticon” led Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protesters to topple that city’s smart streetlights during demonstrations in 2019. As U.S. cities like Baltimore; Kansas City; Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; and Portland, Maine upgraded their streetlight networks, the American Civil Liberties Union has cautioned against the “stealthy” rollout of “spying technology.”