On October 30, 2018, Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) member Michael O’Rielly spoke at a policy event in Washington, D.C., on the topic of “smart cities,” defined by Commissioner O’Rielly as “the collection, use, and analysis of enormous amounts of data from sensors, other devices, and the like, to improve functionality, cost, and efficiencies of local governments and the surrounding communities.”  In addition to remarks on the FCC’s logistical facilitation of the infrastructure necessary to make smart cities a reality, Commissioner O’Rielly cautioned that with smart cities, “the level of data available on individual citizens will be astronomical” and that the collection, use, and analysis of such data is a significant privacy and surveillance concern.  

Smart cities function by pulling data from sensors and other devices set up by local governments to help them run more efficiently and cost-effectively, and might be found embedded in anything from traffic lights to trash cans.  The ultimate benefits of these advancements, according to the Commissioner, include “more mobility and transportation synergies, greater health care solutions, public safety improvements, superior productivity, and so much more.”  But Commissioner O’Rielly remarked that on the flip side, a significant concern is “what happens if [the information collected] is used for mischievous purposes, or worse, to increase the surveillance of innocent Americans.”  He noted that such concern was not a “blind hypothetical” because there are known examples of governments across the world using new technologies to surveil, control, or punish citizens engaging in unapproved conduct. 

Commissioner O’Rielly commented that the “real worry for privacy advocates and the public should be the combination of data with police and military powers, and the state’s potential to use data for the purpose of controlling or punishing its citizenry.”  He added that governments’ ability to create a “comfort level” in the face of the privacy implications of smart cities “remains to be seen.”

Earlier in his speech, Commissioner O’Rielly highlighted that much of the work to be done on smart cities will occur in the private sector and emphasized the FCC’s desire to deregulate service providers, such as cable companies, to “unleash new technology” and remove state and local barriers to the deployment of wired and wireless broadband networks.  “For our part, the FCC has been centered on ensuring that the proper regulatory framework exists for providers to offer services and expand infrastructure deployments to meet consumer demand.”  He noted that the smart city applications will require “enormous and instantaneous cooperation among the moving technological pieces,” demanding “the next level of high-tech, scientific capabilities.”  Commissioner O’Rielly further stated that “[i]f we get things right, not only can smart cities be a benefit to local communities, but they can also serve as a catalyst for new technology advancements and problem-solving,” comparing smart cities to “the dawn of the next microprocessor or fiber-optic cable.”