City Surveillance Watch

When does a smart city become an overly-surveilled city? In City Surveillance Watch, a scripted podcast series from Smart Cities Dive, reporter Kate Kaye explores the inherent dichotomy of data-hungry technologies that - while promising to make cities safer and more efficient - can also be considered forms of surveillance tech.

In three in-depth episodes, listeners will travel across the country, digging deep into stories that illuminate how and why cities are using surveillance tech. They’ll hear from people who oppose its use, from law enforcement representatives who support it, from city staff who manage it and from others affected by these technologies every day. They’ll consider risks and unintended consequences of surveillance tech, and they’ll learn from municipalities crafting meaningful surveillance tech policy.

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Episodes

3. Setting Guardrails

Are city governments prepared to address the potential impacts and very real risks of technology with surveillance implications? Few municipalities have meaningful policy in place to address the potential impacts of these sorts of technologies. In this, our third and final episode of City Surveillance Watch, we assess the current state of government policy and law for surveillance tech (hint: there isn’t much), and we offer practical tools and advice. Find out how municipalities that are ahead-o...

Feb 08, 2021•58 min

2. Network Effect

"People live out loud and outside, and I do have concerns that public gathering, public music — that the surveillance is going to lead to more policing of public space." Those are the words of Ursula Price, a racial justice and civil rights advocate in New Orleans who has opposed the city’s expanding connected camera network. She’s one of the many people featured in the second episode of City Surveillance Watch, which takes listeners on a coast-to-coast journey for a glimpse at how surveillance ...

Jan 25, 2021•1 hr 6 min

1. Balancing Act

In this first episode of City Surveillance Watch, reporter Kate Kaye explores the inherent dichotomy of data-hungry technologies that - while promising to make cities safer and more efficient - can also be considered forms of surveillance tech. Listeners will hear from city staff and law enforcement representatives, civil liberties advocates and activists, tech providers and policy makers, about how cities are thinking about these technologies. They’ll consider risks and unintended consequences ...

Jan 11, 2021•58 min

Preview

Today, as decision makers evaluate use of "surveillance" technologies such as license plate readers, public safety cameras and smart sensors, they must balance the potential benefits of seemingly benign systems with very real risks and costs. Reporter Kate Kaye will explore this topic in a limited three-part podcast series from Smart Cities Dive, launching January 11. Check out this sneak peek of the episodes, and be sure to subscribe to the show.

Jan 05, 2021•5 min