Privacy in a Smart City

Authors

  • Martin Peterson Texas A&M University
  • Barbro Fröding KTH Royal Institute of Technology

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5324/eip.v18i1.5572

Abstract

An increasing number of cities around the globe aim to become Smart Cities through the implementation of a range of Information and Communication technologies (ICT), AI applications and cloud-based IoT solutions. While the underlying motivations vary, all such transitions require large amounts of data. In this paper, we articulate and defend two claims about privacy in a Smart City. Our first claim is that some level of systematic data collection and processing is ethically permissible. However, there is an upper limit for what is permissible: We suggest that it is never permissible to collect and process data that significantly undermine people’s autonomy. Our second claim specifies when such minor privacy infringements that do not significantly undermine people’s autonomy are permissible: We suggest that the only policies legitimized by the first claim are those that promote the collective good.

Keywords: smart city, privacy, autonomy, natural right, collective good

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Downloads

Published

2024-05-28

How to Cite

Peterson, M., & Fröding, B. (2024). Privacy in a Smart City. Etikk I Praksis - Nordic Journal of Applied Ethics, 18(1), 49 - 63. https://doi.org/10.5324/eip.v18i1.5572

Issue

No. 1 (2024)

Section

Artikler - Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2024 Martin Peterson, Barbro Fröding

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.

Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.

Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).