The Privacy Challenge for the Governance of Urban Spatial Data

Abstract

This dissertation is a collection of research on the growing privacy challenge of the development and application of surveillance technologies and the collection of urban spatial data in smart cities and their alternative technical and policy remedies. It consists of three studies. The first study examines the existing policy landscape through the case study of institutional design and adaptation for urban data governance in the City of Seattle under the Governing the Knowledge Commons Framework. The second study evaluates the varying degrees of reidentification risks of spatiotemporal data measured by k-anonymity and by different urban areas and demographic groups. The third study synthesizes lessons from existing research and practices and discusses the role of planning in addressing the privacy challenge emerging from new technologies in smart cities. Together, the three studies answer the unattended question of how can planners understand the conditions that lead to privacy loss, and more proactively, contribute to the solution of these prominent and pervasive challenges.