Switching on Darwin
Information Certainty: Rumoured
Deployment Purpose: Surveillance
| Summary |
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| 0 |
Products and Institutions:
Status and Events:
| Status | Ongoing |
|---|---|
| Events | Start (2 January 2019, Documented, , No description) |
| Start Date | |
| End Date |
Users:
| Involved Entities | |
|---|---|
| Managed by | City of Darwin |
| Used by | Northern Territory Police City of Darwin |
Location:
| City | Darwin |
|---|---|
| Country ⠉ | Australia |
Description[ ]
Switching on Darwin is the name of the smart city project of Darwin. It is strongly suspected that the collection of biometric data is underway, or will be, as the technology has the capabilities. Darwin is the capital of the Northern Territory of Australia, which has a higher percentage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
New CCTV cameras rolled out across the Darwin CBD have facial recognition technology, but the city council insists that capability will not be used, even though it was included in its application for federal funding. As part of the Switching On Darwin project, 138 new CCTV cameras — as well as public Wi-Fi, new lighting, and sensors — were installed across the city centre. Under its Smart Cities and Suburbs grant program, the Commonwealth contributed $5 million towards the $10 million digital infrastructure project — an agreement announced in November 2017. A federal Department of Infrastructure spokesperson said "[facial] recognition capabilities were only included in this grant agreement because it was part of Darwin City Council's grant application" 1
The introduction of new digital surveillance measures in Darwin poses particular concerns for already marginalised groups, as ANU sociologists Gavin Smith and Pat O’Malley have pointed out. The most affected are likely to be Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, who are already disproportionately targeted, criminalised and incarcerated. The Darwin project also occurs in the context of the federal government’s plan to develop northern Australia. This development agenda has been criticised for, among other things, its lack of interest in the Indigenous people who are the traditional owners of much of the land. Two of the chief concerns for Switching on Darwin critics were the possible use of facial recognition software and the potential involvement of Chinese tech company Huawei. Darwin’s lord mayor dismissed criticisms as the baseless concerns of “conspiracy theorists”. He also gave advice to people worried about privacy: “don’t get a licence, give away your credit cards, and get out of Facebook” 4
These examples demonstrate how the perceived neutrality of smart city technology uses stories about progress, modernity and innovation to entrench and disguise existing urban injustices. Ultimately, the “smart city” in Australia is best understood not as a break with older, analogue modes of governing urban space, but as a continuation of the settler-colonial project of displacement, enclosure and control 4
In 2022, the City of Darwin states it does not use facial recognition and lists its providers (only for CCTV) as follows:
The new CCTV cameras are the same brand as those used by NT Police since 2009. Indigo Vision VMS is a UK company. City of Darwin is the project manager, Telstra the lead contractor and NT companies were the subcontractors – Optic Security Group and Top End Race delivered, installed and maintain the CCTV Solution 2
However, the involvement of Huawei has long been suspected and the City has not declared all of its technologies or contracts.
I have repeatedly asked Darwin Council for details about the companies involved in this smart city project. The council provided the names of the Australian companies installing the technology, but would not give the name of the companies that created the systems, stating the information would be available through City of Darwin OpenGov system after the completion of the project. It is not clear why the council would be able to divulge the names of the companies installing the systems, but not those which created the technology. It is also not clear why the residents of Darwin should have to wait until after the systems are installed and operating in order to find out exactly what kind of technology is being used to monitor them. There is also a lack of clarity as to whether facial recognition will form a part of this system either now or in the future. Darwin Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis has denied the cameras being installed as part of the system have facial recognition capabilities, but in an application for a smart cities award in Taiwan, the council's general manager of innovation, growth and development services, Josh Sattler, wrote that the proposal would include "using number plate and facial recognition system and developing AI Geo fencing [sic]." 3
References
- a b Ashton, Kate. Darwin council promises not to use facial recognition technology in new CCTV cameras. , 2019.
- a b cityofdarwinSwitchingDarwinCity2022
- a b "Smart cities could go rogue if we don't secure the technology". (2019) <https://www.afr.com/technology/smart-cities-could-go-rogue-if-we-don-t-secure-the-technology-20190616-p51y6k> Accessed: 2022-06-21
- a b c "Darwin's 'smart city' project is about surveillance and control". (2020) <http://theconversation.com/darwins-smart-city-project-is-about-surveillance-and-control-127118> Accessed: 2022-06-21