Smart City Data Walks Reveal Privacy Concerns

For years, Gwen Shaffer has been leading Long Beach, Calif. residents on “data walks,” pointing out public Wi-Fi routers, security cameras, smart water meters, and parking kiosks. The goal, according to the professor of journalism and public relations at California State University, Long Beach, was to learn how residents felt about the ways in which their city collected data on them.

She also identified a critical gap in smart city design today: While cities may disclose how they collect data, they…