PUBLIC POLICY MEETS PUBLIC SURVEILLANCE

Resumen

This research examines cases of several ‘smart cities’ deploying camera technologies, particularly those augmented by AI and video data capture. Constituent groups including technology companies, city government employees, and a variety of citizen groups both directly and indirectly shape the policies for using these systems and the data they produce, presaging how society might deal with the escalating presence of the Internet of Things. The social shaping of technology approach contributes to the research's conceptual foundations while a political economy perspective frames a consideration of the ethical dynamics in play. The study investigates how seven urban communities frame and articulate the values and dangers of such systems operating in networked environments. Using archival data from official documents, the press, local and State ordinances, the study concludes that police interests have been significant drivers of these systems, alongside new environmental and management promises for improved cost savings. Public engagement practices vary, but in general are either nonexistent or anemic. Oversight practices likewise are under-developed. provides a descriptive picture of how cities view and experience this surveillance infrastructure and highlights of the policy problems associated with the city surveillance systems.