San Diego residents attend forum to learn about new ‘Smart Streetlights’

SAN DIEGO (KUSI) –  The San Diego Transparent and Responsible Use of Surveillance Technology Coalition hosted a community forum on the city of San Diego’s use of “smart streetlights.”

San Diego’s “smart streetlights” program puts cameras on a few thousand street lights and collects data like pedestrian movements. The program is moving forward, but is facing a lot of criticism from the community.

Critics have raised several questions about how the collected data could be used, who gets access to it and who has oversight.

San Diego officials have said the city owns the source data from the sensors, that they are not selling it off or spying. However, City Councilmembers Georgette Gomez, Monica Montgomery and Chris Ward want to put the program on hold until these concerns can be addressed.