Smart city Privacy: Enhancing Collaborative Transparency in the Regulatory Ecosystem (SPECTRE). (SPECTRE)

We are confronted with two overlapping challenges in the smart city ecosystem: privacy concerns and their economic impact. First, data protection principles such as data minimisation, purpose limitation and transparency are under pressure in smart city environments. Second, reliance on private actors for the implementation of Smart city services may facilitate vendor lock-in and market concentrations.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is too narrow to deal with these problems. The data protection framework emphasises accountability and thus relies on the effective implementation of the requirements by such entities. The GDPR introduces the concept of data protection impact assessments (DPIAs). 

The overarching object is the realisation of a more collaborative Smart City data protection impact assessment which factors in the socio-economic realities and operationalizes the incorporation of collective interests in public procurement law.