“Smart city” dystopia

The idea of ushering in "smart cities" in the US (say, like in mainland China and a number of other countries around the world) is facing some pushback, as expected.

Not from the government, the media supporting it, or urban developers behind all this, though - they are all on board, but the critics are warning that the smart city concept might easily turn into a dystopian nightmare of dragnet surveillance powered by what would effectively be (personal) data farms.

Mass surveillance deployed in "smart cities" will be looking for "abnormal or suspicious" behavior.

"We must ask ourselves some urgent questions: Who sets the norm for what is 'normal'," commented Amnesty International Secretary General Agnes Callamard, adding, "Officials who control the designations of ‘abnormal or suspicious' activities in societies also have the power to exacerbate a chilling effect on dissent and protest, and to supercharge discrimination against communities already targeted."

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