European cities are restoring privacy and empowering citizens with data

With new Smart City initiatives, driven by innovative technologies like IoT, AI and edge computing, the debate on ethics and data goes hand in hand. Critical questions arise around topics such as data privacy, anonymisation and data ownership: How is private data protected? What are risks around opening anonymised data? Who owns and controls (personal) data? How can major IT players be regulated, and citizens empowered?

While many cities are focusing on the potential of smart city solutions, fewer cities are actively working on answers to these questions. The recently published report from Nesta, as part of the involvement with an EU Horizon 2020 project, investigates and showcases existing efforts from pioneers in the field. New policies and services facilitate digital rights and provide citizens with more control over their personal data.

Follow the news of the European Data Portal to stay up to date about the efforts in European Metropolises for ethical Smart City implementation and management. Connect with EDP on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn to make sure you do not miss the latest news. If you do not want to wait that long, read more about Open Data in Smart Cities in our Featured Highlight series: Smart City at your service - empowered by emerging technologies.