FPF’s Smart Communities team seeks to provide practical guidance to help local governments and their partners navigate privacy-related issues, support community engagement in local decision-making about data and privacy, and promote fair and transparent data practices for all communities. FPF works collaboratively to achieve these goals with leaders and experts from local government, industry, academia, and civil society.
Networks & Working Groups
FPF established the Civic Data Privacy Leaders Network (CDPLN) in partnership with the MetroLab Network and with the support of the National Science Foundation. The CDPLN is a collaborative peer network that provides an active, authoritative resource for municipal leaders to navigate emerging privacy issues, share practical guidance, and promote fair and transparent data practices.
- Government officials from 30+ communities have already joined this new network, along with other representatives from cities and counties from across the US and Canada, including, Asheville, NC; Arlington County, VA; Austin, TX; Bend, OR; Bloomington, IL; Boston, MA; Boulder, CO; Chattanooga, TN; Columbus, OH; Denver, CO; Gainesville, FL; Hamilton, Can.; Kansas City, MO; King County, WA; Long Beach, CA; Los Angeles, CA; McLean County, IL; Minneapolis, MN; New York, NY; Normal, IL; Oakland, CA; Pittsburgh, PA; Philadelphia, PA; Portland, ME; Portland, OR; San Francisco, CA; San Jose, CA; Santa Clara County, CA; Seattle, WA; South Bend, IN; Syracuse, NY; Toronto, Can.; and Washington, DC.
- Local government officials or their partners who wish to join the network should contact Kelsey Finch ([email protected]).
FPF Smart Cities and Communities Working Group
FPF convened a Smart Cities and Communities Working Group for FPF supporters and Advisory Board members from industry, academia, and civil society to develop tools and resources, discuss emerging trends in “smart city” technology and research, and advance responsible data practices for local governments and their partners.
Tools & Best Practices
- (forthcoming) Smart City Privacy & Equity Community Awareness & Empowerment, which is work supported by a grant from New America’s Public Interest Technology -UN 2021 Challenge to deliver a set of model resources and a student clinic for communities to raise awareness and assess privacy and equity risks posed by smart city technologies. (In collaboration with Cleveland State University, Secure Justice, Golden Data Law, and others).
- Model Privacy Impact Assessment Policy, a model policy that communities around the world can adopt to effectively implement privacy impact assessments into their smart city initiatives. FPF is also supporting a global coalition of Pioneer Cities in piloting the model policy, including statements of intent for PIAs from Apeldoorn, Bogota, Brasilia, Istanbul, and Medellin.
- Mobility Data Sharing Assessment (MDSA), a transportation-tailored privacy assessment that provides practical and operational guidance to organizations that share mobility data, such as data from the use of ride-hailing services, e-scooters, or bike-sharing programs.
- Responsible Data Use Playbook for Digital Contact Tracing, a playbook to help public health authorities and app developers preserve privacy and ensure more ethical uses of personal data within contact tracing efforts.
- Model Open Data Privacy Risk Assessment, a set of tools and guidance for municipalities navigating the complex policy, operational, technical, organizational, and ethical standards that support privacy-protective open data programs.
- Privacy Risk Assessment for Smart Cities & Communities, a set of prompts to help local government privacy leaders identify key questions and considerations arising from smart city technologies.
- Nothing to Hide: Tools for Talking (and Listening) About Data Privacy for Integrated Data Systems, a toolkit to help local government agencies lead privacy-sensitive, inclusive engagement about uses of data they collect in the course of delivering public services.
- Communicating about Data Privacy and Security, a model to encourage privacy-centric communications and engagement for researchers using administrative data from local governments.
- Shedding Light on Smart City Privacy, an interactive infographic about smart city privacy and accompanying best practices library for highlighted technologies.
Blogs, Podcasts, & Discussions
- Smart Communities: A Conversation with Kelsey Finch, discussing FPF’s work on Smart Communities and how we can expect cities to be further transformed by data collection and sharing.
- Civic Technology That Respects Privacy with Kelsey Finch, discussing FPF’s work on privacy issues and its work with municipalities and activists.
- City Surveillance Watch – Episode 3: Setting Guardrails, assessing existing government policy and law for surveillance tech.
- The Smart City Chronicles – Episode 65: City Data Governance, exploring key elements of the ‘city data governance’ – what it means, what are its key elements, and how we can approach our work to ensure that we build greater governance around our management and use of data.
- Civic Data Privacy Leaders Convene at 2019 MetroLab Annual Summit, discussing an FPF workshop with the Civic Privacy Leaders Network and panel on mobility data privacy.
- Sidewalk Labs Releases Detailed Plans for Collaboration with City of Toronto on Quayside Smart City Project, Including Proposed Privacy and Data Protection Framework, overviewing the privacy and data protection features of Sidewalk Toronto’s initially proposed Master Innovation and Development Plan.
- Roundtable Discussion: Smart Cities and Open Data, previewing FPF roundtable discussions on Privacy & Open Data and Privacy & Urban Instrumentation.
- Successful Smart City Leaders Will Be Smart on Privacy, discussing how smart cities and communities can navigate complex issues and integrate digital services in privacy-protective ways.
- Looking Back at Smart Cities Week at FPF, highlighting key events and publications from Smart Cities Week 2016, including a special FPF roundtable discussion.
- In an Increasingly Connected World, Shedding Light on Privacy, highlighting FPF’s privacy infographic and resources for municipal and technology leaders.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Public comments on City of Portland’s Draft Prohibition on the Acquisition and Use of Face Recognition Technologies by City Bureaus Ordinances, discussing key definitions and considerations for restricting private and public use of FRT.
- NYC Mayor’s Office of Information Privacy’s Citywide Privacy Protection Policies, commenting on key privacy interests for New Yorkers and the effective development of citywide policies and protocols.
- Letter of Support to City of Portland’s Privacy and Information Protection Resolution, commending Smart City PDX’s meaningful public engagement and commitment to becoming a trusted data and information steward.
- Testimony to the Portland City Council Work Session on Privacy and Data Protection on the scope of municipal privacy issues, how they relate to equity, and how other jurisdictions are addressing these topics.
- Public comments on NITRD’s Smart Cities and Communities Federal Strategic Plan, commenting on several key domains ripe for additional Federal support on privacy and data protection.
- Public comments to the California Public Utilities Commission, discussing privacy safeguards and considerations for communications and operations data for passenger service in driverless AVs.
- Public letters (2015, 2016) and testimony before the NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission and California Public Utilities Commission, discussing privacy risks and best practices for municipal collection of corporate data from Transportation Network Companies.
- Public comments on the Array of Things’s Governance and Privacy Policy, discussing approaches to balance privacy, transparency, and openness in sensor network deployment.
Academic Publications
- How Data Governance Technologies Can Democratize Data Sharing for Community Well-being. by Dan Wu, Kelsey Finch et al. in Data & Policy.
- Digital Contact Tracing: A Playbook for Responsible Data Use by Kelsey Finch et al. in the MIT Computational Law Review.
- Smart Cities: Privacy, Transparency, and Community by Kelsey Finch & Omer Tene in the Cambridge Handbook of Consumer Privacy.
- Welcome to the Metropticon: Protecting Privacy in a Hyperconnected Town by Omer Tene & Kelsey Finch in the Fordham Urban Law Journal.
Events & Workshops
- FPF’s RCN has hosed several webinars with leading academics on smart cities technologies, including:
- FPF has hosted regular workshops at MetroLab Network’s Annual Summit, including:
- A workshop to build a Civic/Municipal Privacy Resource Library in 2020.
- A convening of the Civic Privacy Leaders Network and workshopping of FPF’s draft Privacy Impact Assessment for Smart Cities & Communities in 2019.
- The launch of the Civic Privacy Leaders Network in 2018.
- Roundtable discussions on privacy for smart cities and open data in 2017.
- FPF co-hosted the Smart Cities, Surveillance, and Privacy conference with Cleveland Marshall School of Law, the IoT Consortium, and the Koch Foundation, which brought together government officials, privacy/civil liberties advocates, and other experts to examine existing models and emerging best practices for how communities can work with state and local government to thoughtfully address privacy and surveillance risks.
- FPF co-hosted a webinar with Datasydd.net on Privacy in High Density Crowd Contexts, examining the role of industry-driven privacy standards in the development and deployment of privacy-friendly technologies for crowd management, mobile connectivity, and smart city services.
- FPF co-hosted a webinar with US Ignite, Maintaining Privacy in Smart Communities, in a multi-sector exploration of key privacy considerations for smart cities and communities.
- FPF co-sponsored and presented at NYU’s Privacy Localism: A New Research Agenda, a workshop to present and discuss a variety of perspectives on the legal, empirical and policy implications of the trend toward “privacy localism.”
- FPF convened a roundtable, Privacy in the Smart City: Finding the Middle Ground, to discuss how communities can secure the social benefits of new technologies while protecting individual privacy.
Expert Contributions & Guidance
- Member of SmartCityPHL Project Task Force.
- Co-Lead for G20 Smart Cities Alliance’s Privacy & Transparency Task Force and Pioneers PIA workshops.
- Contributed to WEF’s Governing Smart Cities: Policy Benchmarks for Ethical and Responsible Smart City Development
- Contributed to Harvard Belfer Center’s Whose Streets? Our Streets! (Tech Edition) Final Report.
- Contributed to US Ignite’s Fostering Civic Trust: A Policy Guide for Municipal Leaders.
- Presented to Long Beach, CA’s Technology and Innovation Commission on facial recognition technologies.
- Interviewed for Portland, OR’s Police Intelligence Gathering and Surveillance Audit.
- Interviewed for Cornell Tech’s Rebooting NYC: An Urban Tech Agenda for the Next Administration.
- Interviewed for Federation of American Scientists’ A More Responsible Digital Surveillance Future.
- Interviewed for development of City of Oakland’s Privacy Principles.
- Invited participant in Oakland’s Questioning Surveillance Workshop.
- Expert review for Smart Columbus Draft Data Privacy Plan.
- Contributed to Institution of Mechanical Engineers’ Smart Cities: Technology Friend or Foe?
- Member of MetroLab Network’s Civic Resilience Research Agenda Brain Trust.
- Member of Open Mobility Foundation’s Privacy, Security, & Transparency Committee.
- Interviewed for Cabinet Office of Japan’s SuperCities initiative.
- Participant in the Privacy Principles Partnership to produce Privacy Principles for Mobility Data.
- Conducted a privacy maturity assessment for a major U.S. city regarding its data-driven transportation/mobility efforts.
- Led a workshop for the City of Boulder on developing privacy principles.
- Participated in the City of Portland, OR,’s SmartPDX working sessions on developing a municipal privacy program.
- Presented to the City of Seattle’s “Privacy Champions” network on emerging privacy and data protection trends.
- Expert contributions by FPF and Civic Privacy Leaders Network recognized in Oakland Privacy Advisory Committee’s 2019 Annual Report.
We invite you to join the Future of Privacy Forum and participate in the Smart Communities Working Group (FPF supporters or Advisory Board members) or the Civic Data Privacy Leaders Network (local government officials).
To learn more or to join, contact Kelsey Finch at [email protected].