The New York Times reports on the proliferation of smart-city projects and whether privacy protection will play a role. More than a dozen U.S. cities have recently started competing for federal grant dollars and the attention of tech companies. Kansas City, for example, "has become an unexpected destination for technology companies looking for a place to test ideas," the report states. Some critics, however, are concerned that cities often lack privacy expertise. Harvard University's Ben Green said, "We increasingly see every problem as a technology-related problem, so the solution is more technology. ... And you have cities, which are caught in this devil's bargain, where they feel they don't have the resources to provide the services people need, and so they make these deals with tech companies that have money, but which in the long term might not be beneficial to either them or their residents." (Registration may be required to access this story.)
Full Story