International Journal of Science, Engineering and TechnologyAuthors: Naveen Talawar
Abstract: The use of enhanced surveillance systems in the smart cities provides a great opportunity in enhancing the secure society, efficient urban planning, and development. However, it broadens some significant questions concerning the rights of individual privacy and the feasible manipulative use of data. While most proponents of smart cities claim that surveillance is one of the essential tools for keeping citizens safe, this paper will explore whether it is in fact the only means for protecting people in urban environments or just another invasive method to violate our rights to privacy. The research employs the doctrinal research method to analyse the existing legal provisions on surveillance in India and other jurisdictions. It discusses the importance of privacy as a human right and legal concerns arising from the rising adoption of AI, facial recognition technology, as well as data analysis in the management of cities. It also provides an analytical discussion of current privacy protections to ascertain their efficacy. The selection of this theme is based on the fact that smart technologies are increasingly extending over cities, and therefore, the privacy concerns arising from these technologies need to be tackled. It is therefore important to fully grasp the meanings of surveillance within smart cities in order to come up with fair policies that would safeguard the privacy of the citizens and at the same time enhance security. The goal of the study is to outline a fair approach that the cities may follow when putting in place the surveillance technologies and still uphold the democratic governance as well as privacy of a person. Finally, the paper concludes by presenting the guidelines for policymakers and urban planners to undertake surveillance ethically by providing recommendations that include the need to embrace transparency and accountability in the use of the technology.
DOI: http://doi.org/
