Privacy and smart cities: A Canadian survey

Abstract

This paper reports the results of a national survey of Canadians about smart city privacy. Our research questions were: How concerned are Canadians about smart city privacy? How do these concerns intersect with age, gender, ethnicity, and location? More, what are the expectations of Canadians with regards to their ability to control, use, or opt-out of data collection in smart city context? What rights and privileges do Canadians feel are appropriate with regard to data self-determination, and what types of data are considered more sensitive than others? In part two of this paper, we review existing literature on privacy and smart cities, particularly in Canada. In part three, we outline the method used in our survey. In part four, we present the findings of our national survey on Canadian attitudes towards privacy in a smart city context. We conclude by summarizing our findings and setting out possible areas for future research.