Dear Editor,
Smart parking is usually one of the first solutions that gets implemented as traditional cities upgrade to become smart cities. The GeoPark smart parking meters are now upon us and there is no turning back. We can lament the various missteps ex post facto, but any changes now will most likely only be accommodations. Various levels of municipal government appear to have dropped the ball. Various mechanisms for governance such as extensive public consultations were not undertaken, in keeping with the spirit of developing sustainable solutions of which smart parking is a part. Further, the government and governance aspects raises another crucial missed issue related to smart parking ‒ privacy.
The smart parking meters form a sensor network, meaning that each meter in the network has location information and the ability to record, store and/or transmit travel transaction data. Recording can mean anything from video, audio, vibrations, movement, etc. With the current disposable pre-paid parking cards this may not be a factor beyond the use of transaction data on parking densities to selectively set hourly rates as a means of optimizing profits. But in the future when credit cards and pre-paid RFID chip cards become necessary, the question is who will regulate and manage the database from this sensor network so that individual privacy is not compromised. With a key database identifier such as a credit card number or RFID chip card ID, it becomes easy to track an individual through the sensor network using the transaction data. This scenario impacts privacy and civil liberties in multiple ways. Anticipatory planning for these data matters would go a long way in avoiding future missteps.
Introducing smart cities solutions to Georgetown is commendable.
However, closely tied to smart cities implementations is the modification of existing and/or the enactment of new laws to address associated issues related to data privacy, security and management.
Yours faithfully,
Shivanand Balram
