The future of privacy in big cities is bleak, cities are now getting paid to convert street lights into spying SmartNodes.
What are SmartNodes?
SmartNodes will soon replace street lights, because they are equipped with cameras, microphones, speakers etc., all-in-one light pole.
The city of Los Angeles, Calfornia is working with Phillips Lighting and ENE-HUB to turn 110,000 street lights into a one-of-a-kind citywide SmartNode surveillance network.
Phillips SmartPoles are equipped with ‘environmental noise monitoring’ microphones. Phillips microphones are designed to spy on ‘raucous neighbors and loud music’.
Where could the music be coming from you ask?
Phillips doesn’t say, but you can bet they mean people, vehicles and homes. Which means, SmartPoles can listen to more than just noise.(Click here to watch Phillips Lighting admit SmartPoles are great data collecting conduits.)
Los Angeles wants 110,000 spying street lights
In the above video, Remco Muijs boasts that Phillips and the city of Los Angeles are working together to host third-party sensors that influence people’s behavior.
Because nothing says influencing people’s behavior, quite like 110,000 spying street lights.
Companies are paying cities to install spying SmartPoles
An article in PTC reveals that private companies are paying cities $1200 yearly, for each SmartPole they install.
“The streetlight-based cells will generate revenues by being leased to wireless providers. The City of Los Angeles will receive $1200 per year for each SmartPole. The installation of 100 IoT-connected streetlights is currently in process in Los Angeles. Philips and the city plan to expand the network to 600 streetlights by 2018. Philips, under a tech development pilot program, is also installing 50 SmartPoles in The City of San Jose.”
To translate that into dollar figures, if Los Angeles turns 110,000 light poles into SmartPole’s they would make approximately $13.2 million a year.
And with that much money at stake, it won’t be long before every city in America turns their street lights into money making, spying SmartPoles.
SmartNodes are all about surveillance
Last year, I warned everyone that DHS and the TSA are installing microphones on light posts to spy on commuters.
But ENE-HUB’s, SmartNode’s make those light posts, look like child’s play.
ENE-HUB’s brochure, reveals they are equipped with Wi-Fi detectors, microphones, CCTV cameras, speakers and travel card readers which I assume means transit car readers. (Click here to find out more.)
SmartNodes also come equipped with…
- Telecommunications
- RBG Beacon Light
- Wi-Fi
- LED Street and roadway lighting
- Community messaging
- Parking management
- Data capture
- Surveillance
- Microphone
- People counting
- Electric vehicle car charging
- Traditional smart pole functions (signage, traffic and lighting)
A recent article in KCRW reveals that ENE-HUB’s, SmartNode’s could also be equipped with ‘video streaming and gun shot sensors connected to police and fire stations’. One can assume that in the near future, SmartNode’s will also be equipped with E-ZPass readers and license plate readers.
ENE-HUB’s ‘benefits’ section admits that governments can use multiple revenue streams to spy on their citizens for 25-30 years. (Click here to watch ENE-HUB’s smart city video.)
Unfortunately, Phillips Lighting and ENE-HUB aren’t the only ones trying to turn entire cities into giant surveillance networks.
Four months ago, I warned everyone that Siemens, GE, Cisco, LED lighting maker Acuity Brands and mall developer Simon Property Group are also installing spying SmartNodes across the country.
After writing numerous articles about Smart Cities, SmartPoles and SmartNodes one thing becomes crystal clear.
They are all about corporate/government surveillance.
https://massprivatei.blogspot.com/2017/10/cities-are-getting-paid-to-turn-street.html
If this stuff is not stop we all will live in a totally controlled world. Before long the tv will start to take people off line for
Good
‘Smart’ lamp posts to become key nodes for surveillance and data collection:
Plans are underway to turn every lamp post into a smart lamp post that can carry and transmit information gathered from surveillance cameras and sensors around the country.
The network of interconnected lamp posts could form the spine of the Smart Nation Sensor Platform (SNSP), which aims to use artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to analyse, for instance, video footage collected by government agencies.
These could be used to detect anomalies and predict situations such as potentially unruly crowds and traffic congestion.
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/national-day-rally-2017-smart-lamp-posts-to-become-key-nodes-for-surveillance-and-data
Portland Maine plans to add Wi-Fi, LED lights to lampposts:
Portland is part of a growing group of cities that have adopted “smart cities” technologies. Many cities have installed lampposts that can provide information to citizens and analyze traffic.
City Councilor Justin Costa said the city was sure to save money once the project is complete, while also getting more efficient and environmentally friendly lighting. He noted that the city will spend $8.5 million to save $10 million over 10 years.
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/business/article179376316.html
Privacy advocates decry proposal for surveillance cameras on San Jose streetlamps:
“We strongly oppose the web of street-level surveillance that is rapidly spreading across our urban landscapes,” said Adam Schwartz, a senior staff attorney at Electronic Frontier Foundation, a watchdog group that fights for privacy protections, about the proposal. “It invades privacy, chills free speech and disparately burdens communities of color and poor people.”
San Jose had to find a way to pay for upgrading the remaining lamps. The city put out a bid asking companies to propose ways they would “use the city’s real estate assets in exchange for installing streetlights or providing revenue that could be used to pay for the lights.”
As part of Siemens’ proposal to install LED lights, the company said it would partner with anyCOMM, a Sacramento County tech company, to install “controller units” that can accommodate up to four video cameras on each streetlamp — with 24/7 digital recording capabilities and audio sensors. The city staff report says the cameras could help combat crime, solve investigations and deter illegal dumping and graffiti.
http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/06/06/privacy-advocates-decry-proposal-for-surveillance-cameras-on-san-jose-streetlamps/